By the Roadway
by Terra Khushrenada
Summary: How about this for a short summery: Will not be publishing here any longer. Look it up on Deviant Art.
1. By The Roadway

**By The Roadway… **

Mid-may... New stuff WILL be added to this...

(((I have posted **(and by now finished Act 1 of)** the** Gundam Wing / Cowboy Bebop crossover **Sequel to By The Roadway! **The Night Grinned Viciously Back **

There's a whole intro that explains the title... Never mind that it's out of order ITS MORE ACTION, and Vicious action at that! **SO go read it or I'll cry!** LoL)))

Originally CH1, due to popularity former CH7 has been moved in front of this... AND THEN KICKED OUT! because it really goes before ch1 of TPoYI so yay! THIS is chapter one again! And so it begins….Trieze Khushrenada, the infamous and mysterious leader too wrapped up in honor to defend his good heart secretly imprisoned to be used by Dermail to gain world domination, he has broken free and is ready to fight back, along with the Gundam Pilots, to fulfill his father's vow to King Peacecraft & bring an end to Earth's war addiction in this dramatic action packed epic rewriting of the hit series Gundam Wing. May the waltz never end…!

Note, if you get to a part...and however interesting, it starts feeling tedious Just Wait... There's a lot of explaining I gotta do before you can see the beauty of the conflicts I try staging... and then I'm just gonna try and put as much action into the plot as I can... Also I'm officially thinking that both Noin and Zechs are probably closer to 20-22 then a solid 19 years old in this AU – just works out better...

* * *

><p>"…with a fancy gun that has long lost the meaning of battle; I would feel no emotion, even if I were to shoot an enemy through the heart…" ~I Want To Be a Loser – Trieze Khushrenada.<p>

_...Set up for a New Future!..._

The car engine hummed steadily along the road as Relena Peacecraft gazed out the window lost in her own thoughts. The Romefeller meeting had gone smoothly, yet terribly. They hadn't listened to a single word she had had to say and practically teased her position as merely ceremonial.

'Father, please if there's anything you could do to help me, I would appreciate it immensely. I just don't know what to do with them!' She sighed, and briefly doubted the dead could do anything.

They passed something and it was a second before Relena shrieked for Pagan to stop the car. He did so at once.

"What's the matter Miss…"

Relena had already jumped out of the car and was running back along the road. A body was laying face down as if the person had collapsed just as he had reached the edge of the pavement.

Her heart was pounding even though he had promised not to leave the Kingdom with out telling her first: crazily she almost knew it to be her personal savior, Heero Yuy. Pagan almost got out following but instead he put the car in reverse, carefully parked it near by and took his Remington pistol with him.

It was not Heero; the man was stripped to the waist and was covered in a mix of dried blood and caked earth. Even with this covering you could make out the long lacerations crisscrossing his back and other gashes on his arms and sides. His hair was also dirty and unruly but closer to a ginger or even dark blond then the dark moss brown of the younger pilot.

Relena hesitated briefly, disturbed by the stillness of the form in front of her. A chill ran up her back and made her shudder. If it was the thought, that the man might be dead or if it was the resemblance to her first encounter with Heero Yuy on the beach those months ago, she didn't know. Pagan came up beside her as she reached out and gently touched the man's shoulder. It was still warm, and he was probably even still alive.

"It would be impossible to get a medical team out here, even our stopping now may not be a very good idea Miss Relena." Relena repositioned and turned the man over to find herself staring into the face of the one person she had least expected to find. Instinctually she understood what had happened.

"We must get him in the car, right now. Help me Pagan." She looked pleadingly up at her personal assistant's face.

After a brief hesitation Pagan helped her lift the man into the backseat of the Pink limo. He gave up his own suit jacket to put around the man's shoulders as a makeshift blanket. By then he too had realized who it was and looked at Relena very seriously.

"I think we may have underestimated the dementia that Romefeller is suffering from." Relena slid into the back seat and gingerly supported Trieze Khushrenada's head in her lap.

"Let's just hope they have underestimated what they've thrown away." Trieze stirred then convulsed with a cough before his muscles relaxed. Lying on his back he was now breathing more easily and visibly.

* * *

><p>A day before Relena in the car… Follow the light!<p>

A searing pain caused whatever thread holding Trieze Khushrenada in a state of pleasant unconsciousness to snap, dropping him back into his aching body and a _vicious_ pain in his lower hip. He twisted violently even before he recognized the feeling of tiny claws and probing teeth. A few just didn't seem to want to give up though and clung at his bare skin and what was left of his pants.

He didn't know if he had cried out, but just as he had managed to dislodge the last two, light flooded the world around him. He was completely blinded. Shadows, people, hoisted him up and he heard a distinct metallic click of shackles behind him. His arms fell limply to his sides.

Another shadow was in front of him now and spoke. Trieze understood none of it. His own lips moved and he spoke his own tongue at the man in return. The man might have sneered and chuckled. It was an old phrase that he had heard once when his family had gone to visit his father's family in Eastern Europe. It translated to: If only your blood could be mine to kill you with. In his drained state it seemed a fitting curse.

There was laughter, the men dropped him and turned to leave, the light still flooding the room. Trieze had no say in what happened next for his mind simply recoiled as his entire body screamed with pain. He threw himself forward with both arms extended to the sides and knocked all three men in front of him off of their feet. He didn't stop to kill them or take their guns; he wouldn't know what to do with a gun if he did have it right then.

Trieze ran and followed a fresh wind he almost thought he could feel pulling him on ward. There were shouts; shots ricocheted off the walls and floor but his feet moved forward with each pound of the heart in his chest. He lunged and rolled before slamming a man full force into the wall next to a door. The card panel was smashed by a careless shot from the guards. Due to lack of funds for such a secretive location, the door slid smoothly open in response to the damage.

Trieze stumbled out into broad daylight. There were more noises, people, shooting, but he still managed to hit a chain link fence. His head was roaring like a rushing river as he scrambled up the chain like fence and then heaved his body up and over. The wiring caught what remained of his shirt and tore it off as he tumbled over; briefly he caught the links on the other side of the fence with the other arm. The gouges left on his torso seemed like nothing then.

As soon as he felt ground he threw him self away from the fence. The rushing river had not been a figment of his mind, and the water enveloped him completely and swept him down stream. He felt himself being propelled past jutting rocks under the surface grazing his skin. He fought away from that place; kicking off what ever he could until he felt the earth bank on the other side.

Trieze Khushrenada ran with blood pounding through his vision.

* * *

><p>Recovery part 1<p>

Sally Po stood a second and sighed just after she had finished shooing everyone out of the medical lab. She picked up the sponge and began to gently wash the caked earth and blood off of Trieze's torso. She hadn't expected anywhere near as much damage as she found underneath. Most of it was already infected and had dirt ground in. It looked almost as though a large cat had decided to use him for a scratching post, but as she cleaned the individual wounds she found that a few, especially on his sides, were in fact burns.

'_Looks like somebody definitely pissed off the wrong people.'_

Sally couldn't help but blush slightly remembering several gossiping conversations about Trieze as she turned professionally to remove the remains of his pants. Sally found a laceration on his right lower hip that looked like something had taken a few bites out of him.

All of this didn't set well with Sally, not just because of the fact that there was no doubt that these wounds had been intentionally inflicted on a human being, but the man lying immobile on the table in front of her only a month or more ago had been the devil himself as far as she was concerned.

Apparently something bigger lurked in the darkness and the future waiting the supporters of the 'Trieze' Faction or pacifism could only be worse. She pulled out stitching materials and started assessing which wounds could be stitched closed, and which might need more attention.

* * *

><p>Recovery part 2<p>

He had always liked roses, so when the scent crept in through his senses, he followed it back out into a medium sized room with a pale décor. It was not as nice as the comforting nothingness that he had come from. He was attached to an aching weight he slowly came to recognize as his own body, but there were roses near by and that almost made it better.

For a moment he had an urgent craving to know where he was, what had happened, how many had died while he had been away. Even as the weight of his former responsibilities tried to take their usual places, his mind gave way beneath and he was left emptily staring after what had been himself tumbling slowly away. He stifled a low moan and tired to force himself back into that nothingness.

There was a shifting near by. He opened his eyes and let his head drop to the side. A man much younger then him sat with a gun leveled at him. This was a surprisingly comforting thought to him; his lips twitched ever so slightly towards a smile. He drifted back to sleep.

"Anything yet?" Sally Po walked in and busied herself with the medical supplies.

"He moved." Sally wasn't looking at Heero and silently laughed to herself at his little-as-possible manner.

"Did he regain consciousness?" Sally came over and looked Trieze over carefully.

"Yeah, then went out again."

"Well it's good he's finally coming around." She looked at the gun in his hand. "You are trying NOT to use that right?" a blank stare was all that replied.

Sally sighed.

"Whatever suits you Heero." Sally knew the boy wouldn't act against Relena's wishes, and probably knew the importance of finding out what Colonel Khushrenada knew.

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><p>Recovery Part 3<p>

Around 3:40 am Sally was awoken to the sound of the monitor going off. She found the room where they had put Trieze empty. 'At least he's not dead.' She thought as she walked over to the open glass door and found her patient.

Trieze was sitting half cross-legged between two of the large stone pillars that were part of the balcony railing. His entire torso was wrapped in bandages that were already turning red with fresh blood. She had changed them just that evening. Sally couldn't help but look back to judge the distance between his current position and the bed (she had been a doctor for too long) it was an impressive distance considering his condition.

"Sorry to wake you, Major Po." Sally almost jumped half at the sound of his smooth deep voice and half at what it had said, but she relaxed.

"I'm surprised you would call me a Major, Colonel Trieze." As Trieze gazed up towards space he replied.

"A rank is something you earn. It describes your capabilities as a commander to make the right decisions. It's not a matter of who is in control." He paused briefly – you could hear the wind stirring the roses below. "If I remember correctly, you are a good commander. You backed down from General Septum's orders to use unethical methods to destroy a rather small rebellion in space. It's why you transferred to the earth Medical teams if I'm not mistaken." Sally blinked and rubbed a bit more of the sleep out of her eyes.

"You remember that?" She was in a bit of disbelief and still waking up, though somehow it seemed to explain a lot at once about this man she'd never met before.

"I remember everything. Well… except how I got here." Sally moved up beside him and leaned against the balcony.

"What do you last remember?" There was a long silence; his answer came as no more then a light raspy breath on the wind.

"Hell."

Sally just stared at him. It struck her as odd for the man who took over the world to seem like so much of a child, but then again soldiers these days were never very old. She knelt down next to him.

"Princess Relena found you lying next to the road and brought you back with her." Sally couldn't help but smirk a bit. "You're lucky there's no one around to say she can't keep a mutt as mangy as you, especially with as much trouble as it is likely to bring."

"Relena Peacecraft… I owe her my life it seems, I will have to thank her as soon as I can." After a pause that made it apparent Trieze didn't have any more to say, Sally spoke once more.

"You should go back to bed." She could have been fooling herself but she almost saw him flinch.

"I've slept too much already." His voice was stronger. The moon moved out from a cloud and she finally could read the pained look on his face.

"Don't make me make this an order, Colonel. Didn't you just say something about my abilities to make the right decisions?" The manner in which she said it caused Trieze to let out a short pained laugh.

"Fine, so be it..." Trieze started moving to get up and Sally immediately took over.

"Sleep." She said after she'd rewrapped his bandages and got him settled into the bed again. She injected a small dose of pain killer into his arm. As she was walking away she heard Trieze mutter something behind her.

* * *

><p>Back in 195…. Recovery 4<p>

There were few complaints from Sally's new patient from that point on. He continued to sleep and was beginning to be able to take down food. Heero lurked around the recovery wing like a ghost, Quatre and Noin debated if it was more to catch any spies or to make sure Trieze didn't escape.

Relena's peace talks were going well with every national leader, except the Romefeller foundation. With her next appointment looming she felt it was time to talk to the only person who might have an answer for her.

Relena left her office and headed to her personal rooms. Her maid was just polishing the silver frame of the full-length mirror when she arrived.

"Ms. Cassie I need to meet with an important person, is my ambassadorial uniform ready?"

The woman curtsied as she replied with a simple "No, my lady." Relena thought for a moment.

"The blue dress my mother made then." Ms. Cassie laid the dress out and excused herself from the room with another curtsy.

* * *

><p>Relena took a deep breath before she opened the door. Trieze was sitting up in bed reading a book. Sally and Noin had refused to allow him a computer that connected to the network. They felt it was too dangerous a chance that he might attempt to contact his followers to obtain reports, inadvertently alerting Romefeller to his location.<p>

"Miss Relena, I was hoping to have a chance to extend, to you personally, my gratitude for saving my life."

"It was the least I could do for you… even though I was nearly killed by Lt. Colonel Une twice, wearing this very dress in fact." Relena crossed the room and sat lightly on the edge of Trieze's bed. "Admittedly the last occasion was due to my own bold actions, but you cannot deny that the other two attempts were the doing of your own orders. Did you give up? Or was it really something else? Noin claimed that you had sent her personally, but I really can't see why."

Trieze closed the book and set it on the nightstand. He didn't need bookmarks or cornered pages to remember his place.

"I know she has told you about Milliardo. Do I seem so honor-less for an old friendship to not be enough? Unfortunately your brother has never been able to trust anyone to know where you went after the down fall of your family. It took a while before Noin was finally able to get him to confess and pass the information on to me. Just in time too – it _is_ a lovely dress."

Relena blushed unexpectedly at the complement, she remembered Trieze flirting with the other noble women at the Romefeller dinner party she'd attended and suddenly could sympathize with how taken they were with this man. He was lying beaten in bed covered in bandages and still had a power over another using such simple words.

"It's not very fitting for a high commander to betray his own army."

"Would your death really have done any good for MY army?"

Relena dropped her head and closed her eyes. She had started off more offensive then she really felt towards the man right now.

"I thought Oz was your army. Now I can see that I was wrong to think you were the ultimate villain pupating this worldwide massacre. You have a following quite dedicated to fighting for your ideals, but your still almost as helpless as I am in trying to change the times now, whatever your powers were before." Trieze frowned at this.

"Princess… Please do not tell me you consider yourself helpless. That would be a terrible thing right now." Relena stared into his pleading blue eyes at a loss for what to say.

Trieze reached out haltingly and took a light hold of Relena's nearest hand.

"I remember how proud Milliardo was to have a sister to look after when you were born. He was convinced that you were much more then just a little girl. When you stood up on stage after my…well, pompous speech… and spoke so surly and boldly, I was convinced he had a true premonition of the times to come; you are anything but helpless right now. You just have to realize that your ways of acting differently are exactly why you have all the power in the world right now."

"It certainly doesn't seem that way with how many people continue to die in this pointless conflict you started. Romefeller continues to laugh at my urgings. No matter how much I convince national leaders to embrace Pacifism, they refuse to organize and speak out against the foundation. It's said it would be crippling to the world economy to halt military productions. Yet it's crippling that so many are starving because they have been cut off from vital resources!" Trieze's hand tightened around Relena's.

"It is not pointless what men are dying for right now. It's very important for humanity fight, for people to stand up and die for what they believe in. How else is one supposed to know what is worth living for? I do regret Marshal Noventa's death as well as Minister Dorlain… They were indeed men of peace that might have been able to lead mankind into an era of stability. It's even more important now for this battle to continue till it is finished, till humanity can finally see itself for what it is and move on towards even higher goals."

"Are you sure that's really what this is all about?" Relena snatched her hand back and stood up giving Trieze an incredulous look. "Maybe it works out so neatly in YOUR mind, but I doubt anyone else sees it that way! Besides, LOOK at you! Your own side imprisoned and tortured you! How can you be so sure that all this blood-shed will come to a good end?"

"…Because Relena Peacecraft would never stand for the world to come to a bad end. We all have our own parts to play."

Relena was at a loss for words again, she sighed and sat. "I have another meeting with the Foundation in a week and a half, their Board of Directors invited me to meet with them and hear about my country's philosophies… what would you tell me I should do?"

"Cancel it."

"What?"

"You should not trust them. The Board of Directors has a difficult time returning results to maintain support for their decisions. If they have not quelled the pilot rebellion yet they will be hard pressed to have something to show for all the money nobles are investing in them. I doubt they will act with any semblance of honor towards their biggest threat & competitor for power."

Relena stood once more; she had enough to think about.

"It's not an option for the Sank Kingdom to throw away its one chance to try and get through to the very people insisting on destroying this world. I'm not going to hide and wait for them to invade my country." Relena headed out the door.

"You may not have to wait long…" Trieze was unsure if she heard his last words.

* * *

><p><em>Back on your feet: Fall of 195…<em>

Trieze was deeply disturbed by Relena's unwillingness to heed his warning. It was more then a week from now but he couldn't relax to fall asleep even with the drugs Sally had carefully been administering to him. Not being able to check on the remote servers he had gathering worldwide intelligence didn't help either.

Remembering the dark haired boy that had greeted him on his first awakening, a Gundam pilot if he wasn't mistaken, Trieze had an idea of whom he should bring his concerns to.

He rolled over and carefully reached out for the plug to the monitoring machines and tugged it out of its socket, the mistake he had overlooked the last time. He made quick work of disengaging the different attachments to himself, this wasn't the first nurse he'd snuck out on, and gently eased himself down onto his feet.

After a few unsteady steps he promptly fell and barely missed upending a cart full of medical equipment. Walking clearly wasn't going to work. Luckily there were a few wheelchairs folded up and tucked into a corner, so he propped one open, sat himself down and got moving down the hall.

He had hoped that his childhood running the halls of the Peacecraft home would mean the building would become familiar, but of course it had been burnt to the ground and the new structure didn't share its floor plan. None the less, he passed a doorway and recognized one of the boys inside by the piano to be the same dark-haired pilot from before.

Trieze set the breaks on the chair just past the doorway, hoping they hadn't spotted him, and hauled himself onto his feet again. Using the wall for support he walked quietly as he could through the doorway and leaned his back against the wall inside the room trying to dawn a casual pose to hide the fact his legs were barely able to hold him up.

"Well maybe we could bring him back… ya know? As an offering of peace and all? Hey look what we found, mind not destroying our country?"

Duo lying on the floor, was obviously reaching the limit of serious conversion he could handle. Quatre sighed.

"Giving Romefeller what it wants isn't about to change its mind about everything else its trying to accomplish, Duo. If anything we need to start making moves to secure and protect more allies like the Trieze Faction from their bulling tactics." Heero was staring out across the lush gardens while Quatre was lightly playing a tune on the piano.

He was the only one actually facing the doorway but too wrapped up in watching his own hands to see Trieze calmly leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. They were all surprised (if Heero is ever surprised) by the new voice in the room.

"Allowing your Princess to walk right into a trap certainly would not be protecting your allies." Duo shot up straight, Heero turned and Quatre stopped and looked up from his playing.

"Trieze!" Duo and Quatre chimed in unison.

"What trap?" Heero sensibly asked.

"It is suspicious that not a single country has been willing to openly support the Pacifistic ideals of the Sank Kingdom and yet the Romefeller Board of Directors would invite Relena to meet with them? They are not ones to yield unless they are forced to. I do not believe that could possibly be what is at work."

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Duo really wasn't up for any more deep tactical analysis of the world crisis. Quatre had a better question.

"How could they move openly against Relena? She has so much support even if no one is willing to openly voice it, surely such a move would jeopardize their position rather then strengthen it?"

Trieze smirked and opened his arms to gesture to his own state, clad in white linen pants and torso wrapped in bandages.

"Is there not an active force fighting in my name? It was not hard for them to make me disappear from my exile despite a great deal of public attention and even a trained guard that was loyal to me. Relena said herself that the fighting has been cutting people off from vital resources and it is easy for crimes to go overlooked when people are more concerned with their own stomach. I am sure they have a plan to turn it to their complete advantage."

Heero Yuy took a few steps towards Trieze.

"And how do we know that letting you escape wasn't a part of that plan? I have my suspicions too, but, if Relena feels that the best course to promote pacifism is to meet with their Board of Directors, I would wonder how much they have to gain if she were to refuse."

Trieze bowed his head. Heero was an excellent soldier indeed. There was no doubt that he was the same pilot that had detonated his Gundam in Siberia. The same one Zechs / Milliardo, Trieze's life long friend, had betrayed his orders for a chance to duel in Antarctica.

"Maybe you are right… but I would hardly be showing my gratitude not to voice my concerns to you directly, Heero Yuy." Trieze raised his head again and locked eyes with the boy. The two other pilots in the room were hesitant to take any action to break the silence.

It was strange the memories that came to Trieze's mind were of the experimental training run he had taken with the Z-PLCs. These boys who had fought almost longer then any others in this conflict had grown up as experimental soldiers to lead the revolution. Every day living with that intense uncertainty of where you're self ended and your mission and machine begins. The toll it had taken was epitomized in those colorless grey eyes staring back at him.

What had he, Trieze Khushrenada, been doing lounging behind a desk playing parlor games with the demons that were laying the earth sphere to waste?

"YOU'RE EXCELLENCY!" Sally Po burst into the room with a furious look on her face. "Didn't we already have this conversation? I thought I was clear you weren't to leave the medical wing." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Trieze gave a sheepish smile to the boys and shrugged. The motion promptly overbalanced him and Sally caught him before he hit the ground.

"Whoops." He gave his rescuer the most charming smile he could manage, and was pleased to notice the spread of a red blush across the base of her throat before Sally had him into the chair again and was wheeling him back to his room.


	2. The Long Dinner and worst chapter

**Musings on the Past: Information Galore!**

You want to read the REALLY good chapters?

Skip to ch6 and beyond... really any ch other then this is pretty decent...

All this set up info stuff, I'm still working on how to make it a more entertaining read...

Just wait till I get the REAL ch12 written "Crash of The Red Comet" - huge fist fight brawl between two 'brothers' that totally trashes the Sank Kingdom's dinning room, it's my literary revenge against the doldrums of the dinner scene in this chapter... We'll get there one of these days.

* * *

><p>Wayyy back….1 (This is what will be an excerpt from Particulars Youthful Indis.)<p>

Trieze noticed a new student in the front courtyard as he walked in through the gates, his car keys still in his hand. It wasn't that he was so used to the usual crowed of people that he would observe such a change, but more the fact that no body usually would sit alone by the side wall reading. He saw Katja and Samantha in their usual place under a cherry tree on the other side of the courtyard and decided that they could wait.

He strolled over to the other boy. Trieze noticed as he got closer that despite his Asian heritage, he was rather pale. There was also a cloth bundle next to the new guy that he recognized as a dueling set of Katana blades.

"You wouldn't happen to be from the colonies would you?" the boy looked up a little frightened or rather, surprised.

"Do you have an issue with that?" His hair was long and black like his eyes, and there was certainly a threat in his question, but Trieze laughed.

"Not at all, are you on the exchange program?" The guy relaxed a bit.

"Yeah, sorta. We couldn't find anyone to switch with, so my parents did some negotiations and got me a place to stay while I'm here." Trieze raised his eyebrows.

"Too bad no one asked me, my father is working to try and help restore reasonable travel for you guys up there, what kind of an apartment did you end up with?" The new guy laughed.

"Apartment? Hell no, they bought me a house, because of a loophole it's non-taxable property since we're colony citizens, which is nice but I suppose most people wouldn't have the money to enjoy the opportunity."

Trieze smiled.

"Most people. My name's Trieze Godrick Khushrenada the XIII."

"Nitroglycerin Tsukoto Mudo and I am not kidding."

"Do people usually think you are?"

"About the Nitroglycerin part… yes." Trieze laughed.

"Strangely I meant the Mudo part, though yeah, how'd you end up with that one?"

"My family is strange."

Trieze had a contemplating look on his face.

"I've heard they are quite the warriors," he gestured towards the boy's swords "As the captain of the fencing team I'd be honored if you were to join us and give a demonstration of a few of your family's techniques." Mudo's eyes flashed and he looked down to hide his wide grin behind his long bangs.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible, our techniques are very dangerous and only to be used in a real fight." Milliardo had just walked into earshot in time to hear and clap a hand onto Trieze's shoulder giving the newcomer a warning look.

"I wouldn't have said that if I were you, this one will make you want him dead just for the thrill of having an adversary to fight against. Hell, he'd probably start a war if that's what it takes to bring your full potential to bare."

"Then…" Nitro raised his head revealing an almost demonic grin. "Well met, my eternal foe."

Trieze own Cheshire grin was almost as wide. He felt that absolute rush of piloting a Mobile Suite Leo on the training course near his family home.

The bell rang for the school day to begin…  
>(Way back 4 is at the end of this ch now &amp; 3 starts Ch8 from Milliardo's perspective for those who need help with the timeline...)<p>

* * *

><p><em>Reconnecting with past love…<em>

For the next few days Trieze made every effort he could to get out of his bed and start being able to move around properly again. At first he tried to sneak onto the floor to attempt a few crunches and push-ups whenever Sally was off helping Relena to search for Trowa and Wufei the missing 3rd and 5th pilots, as well as the Gundams that had been abandoned when the pilots had moved into space again.

She caught on quickly, considering how much harder it was for Trieze to get back off the floor and into bed, and started having Noin watch him whenever she was busy. They had decided early on neither the Trieze Faction soldiers they'd rescued nor any of the students should be allowed to find out about the Sank Kingdom's guest.

Noin however had an even harder time trying to convince her former high commander to stay quietly recovering in bed. After a few conversations Trieze finally convinced her to talk Sally into lifting the strict recovery conditions she was trying to enforce.

Twice a day Noin wheeled him outside and walked with him down the garden paths.

"Zechs is a lucky man to have found you, Lt. Noin. You two would make a very nice couple if it were not for this bloody war going on." Noin laugh was a little strained, clearly she had been trying not to think about the fallen prince.

"I wouldn't know what you're talking about Colonel, it would be very unprofessional to have feelings for someone like Zechs Marquise…" very quietly she added, "Or Milliardo…" Trieze stopped and turned to look at her. Noin was a little surprised when he suddenly stopped leaning on her, and stood unsupported.

"Lucrezia, I am very aware that the relationship you have with Zechs is anything but a professional one between soldiers. In front of Lady Une and others it is not a bad idea to keep such facts hidden, but not from me." Less sternly he continued, "Please? I do want to know, when this is all over, would you consider being with him still?" Noin looked very sad indeed.

"I hardly see what difference my feelings on the matter would make… I'd like to think that he cares for me, but… when this is all over, if we even survive, I doubt that it will mean that we would be able to be together. He is Sank royalty his responsibilities will not end with this war after all." Trieze clasped her hands in his.

"Noin, before things… got bad. I was able to spend some time late one night with him after the battle in Siberia, I did owe it to him after the stunt Lady Une pulled during his duel. I have known Milliardo, and Zechs, for my entire life. Believe me, where ever he is right now I am sure he regrets that your not there with him. Do not let him keep that hidden from you, it will only hurt him more in the end and lead to even more regret. He needs you to be there for him, always. I am sure he would put up quite a fight before letting anyone say you are not good enough for a Sank prince, do not make that mistake again." It was obvious Noin was moved by his words. She looked like she was almost about to cry.

"Thank you, Mr. Trieze…"

He gave an exasperated sigh, partially at the formalities he could never escape; partially that she had missed his subtle reference.

"Please, Just Trieze. I hardly need the extra titles getting in the way right now." Trieze smiled a slightly mischievous smile and moved in closer to her for a more direct approach, "Besides, you weren't calling me Mr or Sir that night on our way into space…"

He drew one of her hands up and gave it a light kiss.

That sent her into a full bashful blush as she snatched her hand back and she looked quickly around to see if anyone happened to be watching as she quickly stepped away from him.

"THAT, I thought wasn't EVER to be mentioned!" She said in a harsh whisper.

"I did say that, after you and Zechs first met." He coyly replied.

Noin glared at Trieze who shifted uncomfortably, more from the aching in his slowly strengthening legs then the women's glare.

"You know I've had some late night conversations with Zechs about you as well. You really are every bit the incorrigible womanizer he accuses you of." Trieze shrugged.

"I can not help it, I love women, especially extremely capable ones. You know this. I have been working so much the past two years I have not been able to get out much to spend time with others. You must excuse my informality."He ended with a slight bow.

Noin leaned up against a tree.

"If we're being informal then... What about you, Trieze? Would you marry Lady Une after the war?"

Trieze sat down on a stone bench, chuckling.

"Une, une, une… oh Lady Une. She certainly deserves it for how loyal she has been to me." He stopped seeming unsure of what he was about to say, "I think it is a little less likely that I will have that chance though…" he stared blankly, "I hope she finds someone who can really make her happy once there is peace."

Noin frowned.

"Do you really think she's alive?" It was a little blunt, but there was no other way to put it. Lady Une had disappeared when Fortress Barge had been destroyed.

"Yes, she's alive. I know it."

"Then I don't see why you should have such a gloomy outlook for yourself surviving this war. You managed to take care of yourself pretty well even after you were stripped of command and imprisoned." Trieze's face continued to be blank.

"My fate is not up to me, and this war is not going to be over until my life is. I have become just as much a symbol of this conflict as the Gundams have. Unfortunately they, and the world, cannot have their victory unless I am defeated in battle."

Noin desperately wanted to argue with him. She almost couldn't stand how he could speak so surly about his own death. Trieze and she had indeed been extremely close for a short while but, something held her protests back.

He had indeed stepped out of the roll of a normal human being living on the Earth. He had orchestrated Operation Daybreak and took over the Earth Sphere from the Alliance. He had overseen the assassinations of Minister Dorlain (Relena's adoptive father), General Septum and Marshal Noventa along with the other members of Alliance high command. Even if he had acted only in Romefeller's interest, Karma or fate would not be overlooking him when it came time for this bloody conflict to end. Her voice was quiet and caught in her throat when she spoke.

"We should get you back to bed…"

Trieze nodded and didn't refuse her helping him back on his feet. Together they made their way inside in silence.

* * *

><p>Way Back…2 (This is a few months after the last chapter of TPoYI)<p>

Nitroglycerin Tsukoto Mudo lay on the roof of his car with his feet resting on the windshield of his car. The small hidden Colonial Militia encampment near Luxembourg included a landing pad, three all-in-one transport trucks that were almost two stories tall and double the length of an 18-wheeler, an assortment of ground vehicles and other necessities, as well as three heavy-duty transport helicopters that were soon to return.

Nitro had been listening for them most of the night while the couple dozen other occupants of the secret base quietly went about their business. They couldn't use long-range radio transmissions because they were too easy to pick up. Nitro Mudo was young, but had inherited his position when he was even younger and spent every day proving his capabilities.

His phone rang and he smoothly flipped it open and held it up to his ear without looking at it.

"Moshi, moshi." He continued to breathe un-phased although this call could mean that a serious complication had arisen in the simple transport plan. A horribly familiar voice answered over the line instead.

"Mudo…I need a ride." Mudo sat up straight and checked the number quickly.

"Where are you Trieze?" He could tell something was horribly wrong with the man who spoke into the other end of the receiver.

"The Hospital, Luxemburg."

"Should I plan on leaving in a hurry?" Mudo slid down from the top of his car and rolled next to the driver's door.

"No…the emergency room entrance …just take your time."

"What happened?" There was a long pause where he could hear the sounds of the hospital behind Trieze.

"Tell you then." There was a click.

Nitro Mudo for the first time in a long relationship with Trieze doubted his good will and wondered if this might be some strange trap. Even that did not stop him from getting into his car and pulling up to the communication center.

"Oyi! I have an emergency to tend to! Send any report data to my phone." He sped off for the Luxemburg hospital.

Around 3:57am Trieze looked up out the glass doors and saw a familiar car pull up. He pushed himself up and forced himself to walk strait towards the doors.

"Mr. Khushrenada!" Trieze halted and swayed slightly, before turning to look at who ever had called his name. The assistant doctor came up to him. "Are you sure you're going to be alright? We could arrange for you to stay…" Trieze waved his hand around and walked out the glass doors.

Mudo had gone around to the passenger side and opened the door for him. He was eyeing him carefully. Trieze was at a loss to attempt to deal with the world around him properly and Mudo obviously sensed it. He slid into the driver's seat after closing Trieze's door for him.

"What happened? I thought you were going home today, is everyone ok?" Mudo looked over at him.

"They're dead."

Trieze was pale, breathing irregularly and tense. Mudo was set back in his seat by that. It was a firm reminder of the dangerous turn events taking place for everyone around the world sphere. He started the car moving.

"Who?"

Trieze whimpered and was losing quickly to the tears he had kept at bay since the medical team had showed up at his house finally started to fall again. Still not quite sure of what happened Mudo didn't press further; Trieze did elaborate of his own accord.

"I came home. The door was wide open. They…they had already got them into the library…I couldn't do anything…I…" Trieze was breathing hard as if he were sprinting.

"Who…" Mudo was much quieter this time, almost dreading the answer. After another moment or two Trieze regained his courage, his eyes fixed staring blankly.

"They're all dead. Shot father…ter…Terra…Mother… I couldn't do anything, nothing, wouldn't…stop…"

Trieze wrapped both of his arms around his chest and leaned forwards trying to stop the throbbing aching. Mudo's mouth was open partly and his foot was failing to register the need to continue accelerating the car.

"They…Wha…no, No. Where? Where do you want to go?"

Mudo was trying to hold it together for the two of them. When he had come to earth for a High School exchange program Trieze's family had practically taken him for their own. Sir Godrick, Trieze's father, even arranged for him to have a few impromptu Mobile Suit piloting lessons with a wink and a nudge just before he returned to space for summer break. Trieze shook his head.

"Alright then, you'll just have to come back with me." He desperately tried to think of what he could do for his friend.

"Thanks..."

Trieze settled back in his seat trying to escape the images of earlier that night.

They arrived at the small encampment. One of the officers at the camp noticed Nitro's passenger, who was still wearing his uniform from the Oz Academy he had left just that afternoon, and imminently moved to have a word with Nitro.

"Sir! What is this…?"

The rest was drowning out as the HVT-copters finally arrived. The arrival covered Mudo's response as he snapped around at the other officer. It was unclear how much the man heard, but he had gotten the point. To Trieze, who was still standing in a kind of shock, he nodded his head towards one of the Transport vehicles where his own quarters were.

As they walked across the clearing there was a buzz of activity as the men went to unload the large cargo from the transport vehicles. Just as the two were reaching the door Trieze turned and stopped; He wasn't looking at Mudo but at the six Mobile Suits being unloaded off of the helicopters.

"Hmmm…" Trieze smiled in an almost disturbed way with the conflict of emotions at work in his mind. Mudo stopped in line with Trieze's shoulder and looked back over his own.

"We have to do something if we're going to keep our charter." Trieze shook his head slightly.

"It's not that. The Alliance's new 'Anti-theft' system seems to be working." Mudo made a full turn around and surveyed the scene. Trieze had picked up on the slight extra bustle as the suits joints failed to de-lock for unloading.

"Oh yeah…? How does it work?" Trieze laughed a bit forcibly walking over to the landing pad.

The men working on the Mobile Suits went on the defensive the second they caught sight of Trieze, but with their legendary leader Mudo Sama walking not more then two steps behind him none moved to stop him. Trieze climbed up the familiar form of an Alliance Leo suit to where technicians were attempting to access the operating systems of the suit at the cockpit.

"Got a nine volt?" He knelt next to the man who was furiously trying to hack into the system's computer systems. He looked up at Trieze and took in the mostly unbuttoned Oz uniform.

"…no…" Trieze shrugged and dropped into the cockpit. The man peered curiously into the darkness after him.

"…probably left it in here anyways." Trieze sat himself into that all too familiar seat and reached down next to its base, popping open a supposedly secretive storage compartment to pull out a small inch by two inch object and plugged it into a slot just under the control panel. "Try it now."

With the reconnected MAG-Key it was far easier for the man to access the operating systems. Trieze pulled himself out of the cockpit.

"There's a negative field inducer on the primary engage processor you have to negate before the systems will function after they've been stored for transport. If you can't find the MAG-Key just hook the positive side of a nine volt up to the connector on the left side."

"Well, I'm glade you stopped by." Nitro clapped a hand on Trieze's shoulder.

"I'm ever more glade you let me."

Nitro laughed lightly.

"English really wasn't your first language, was it?" Trieze smiled weakly.

They made their way to Mudo's quarters. Nitro flicked the lights on. The room was dim but surprisingly spacious, containing its own kitchen area, office area, and living room/bedroom area near the back.

"They've only put one bed in here, but it's a good size." Trieze picked up the Wild Turkey bottle on the table and sat down.

"Doesn't matter" Trieze went to finish what was left in the bottle. Nitro's hand caught it before he raised the bottle high enough to drink.

"How about we have something else? You _know_ this stuff isn't good for you." Trieze relinquished the bottle and submitted to Nitro's judgment on the matter, right then he would have let someone stab him several times and even thanked the man afterwards. Nitro walked back to where the bed and a small couch chair was and pulled out a small suitcase and a smaller lockbox. Trieze recognized it and moved back to join Nitro on the floor,

"The only good thing about being a Senior Militia officer besides traveling everywhere in secret, is that they don't care what you do in your down time." He finished filling the Hookah's base.

"Only good thing about being a blue blood in the army as well."

"Only?" Mudo laughed. He opened the lock box and began processing the premium colonial grown so that it would pack properly into the bowl.

"I've missed you." Nitro looked up at Trieze with a frown.

"We hung out just last week when I met you outside the academy grounds."

Trieze was looking awfully pale and it had Nitro worried.

"Seems more like millennia or more…" Mudo could tell that Trieze wasn't quite with him at that moment. After he placed the bowl back into place, he handed Trieze a rather fancy long lighter.

"To the last millennia then?" That made Trieze smile weakly again before he lit the bowl and they both inhaled. After that they took turns. "So where are you going Trieze?"

Trieze looked back at Nitro across the gently curling smoke and thought about it for a while.

"Home. It's all I got."

Nitro nodded slowly.

"Are you sure that's safe for you?" Trieze shrugged though, his shrouded and frozen eyes spoke of much more. "Humm… I understand how you feel…if you remember."

Trieze did remember, the incident had occurred whilst he was on his first space tour as a part of his training at the Alliance Academy and had almost led to him having to kill Mudo, or die himself.

An especially poorly supervised unit of Alliance occupying Infantry had actually gone as far as to kidnap and abuse a local colonial woman. Unfortunately for the base that they had been stationed at – it was the home colony of the Mudo family.

Nitro had walked up to the front gate in an enraged trance with nothing other then a katana, a tanto, and a high powered pistol and destroyed more then half of the base before reinforcements could be mobilized properly. The Alliance commanders had taken so long to believe that it was actually only one man doing all the damage that it had been impossible for them to mount an organized defense.

Mudo's family traditions included particularly rare and deadly sword technique allowing an individual to "throw" the cutting force of their blade and amplify it dependant upon one's mastery of the technique. Trieze having a chance to learn it himself was more of a bonus then an exchange, to the fact that they'd trained Nitro in basic MS Piloting.

"You are always welcome in my ranks."

That made Trieze really laugh.

"Your ranks? No… how would I ever take over the world then?"

Nitro chuckled in his low voice.

"Your going to take over the world?"

"Yep," Trieze looked pained for a second, and if not for the fact that his eyes were already red and watery from the smoke one would say he was also about to cry again. "For Terra… for Earth." He met Mudo's eyes again and his voice dropped to a whisper. "They could have just…"

Mudo put up a hand he could sense the oceans of distress his friend was trying to hide. Trieze's eyes never blinked but he took a deep breath and continued on a different thought, "They claimed to be Colonial rebels." Mudo frowned.

"We never call ourselves Rebels, that's for you earth-trotters. We're a Militia and it's very hard to keep it that way." Trieze nodded and took another long drag off of the Hookah.

"They were also tan. Colonists never get that complexion; it would take a good number of days and the right amount of sun."

"So who then?" Trieze shook his head.

"I don't think it matters. If they wanted something, they don't have it yet."

"Are you sure about that? We should get you home before …" He glanced at the clock. Trieze gave a shrug and let the smoke stream out his nostrils. Mudo checked the bowl, and packed some more.

Trieze's cell phone went off and he methodically answered it.

"Hello" There was a pause and then Trieze's eyes hardened into blue diamonds and shifted over to Mudo.

In the silence Mudo could hear the voice on the other end.

"_Hello? Trieze? It's your uncle Dermail. I've heard what's happened, are you all right? Where are you?"_ Trieze kept his voice level, and his eyes never left Mudo's.

"I'm just fine. I'm at the hospital still."

_"Oh good, some one is on their way to pick you up."_

"That's fine, but no thanks. I think I'll be alright on my own."

_"That won't do boy! What on earth are you to do there? No, I insist you come here and have a good rest in a proper bed!"_

"I was going to go back home."

_"Trieze…that would be very foolish. Some one is attacking your family! Our family! We can't afford to lose you as well!"_

"I'll be fine." Trieze clicked the phone shut. "If the hospital didn't tell him what happened, how did he know." It wasn't a question.

"They could have called someone else first?" Trieze shook his head, and his whole body trembled with tension as loose ends began to fall into place in his mind; the arguments his father had mentioned, the timing of the assault on his home, the uncle he'd never been close with calling far too soon after the fact… What trap was he being sucked into?

"I told them to wait until tomorrow morning before releasing any information; they are very good about confidentiality." Mudo took a long hit.

"He wouldn't be able to trace your phone right?" Trieze thought about it.

"Oz technology… …not quite capable of that yet, I think we'll be ok." Mudo nodded. Trieze removed the battery and SIM card just in case.

"So, how are you going to deal with this?"

"I told you, I'm going to take over the world. Then it won't matter who is against me, because I will hold everyone's fate in my hands." There was a long silence between the two; Mudo didn't know what to say to that. He didn't doubt Trieze, but wondered if perhaps there was a better way.

"Alright then, I'll be able to stay with you for awhile. Everyone else needs to get back to orbit. Right now we should get some sleep."

"Oh? I thought you would have something to do back home."

"Well if my fate is going to be in your hands some day, I might as well make sure those are damn good hands." A smile slowly grew on Trieze's face.

"Are we really that absurd?"

"I dunno, supreme ruler, are we?" Trieze let out a bit of a laugh at that.

"Amazingly…yes. We are." He sighed and then shuddered. The bowl was finally finished.

Trieze pulled off his Academy uniform and boots and dropped into the large bed.

"By the way," he muttered through the pillow. "Thanks again Nitro."

Mudo didn't answer and shuffled through paper work. He went outside and kept watch over the camp for half an hour before going back inside.

* * *

><p><em>Reconnecting with past love…2<em>

Duo sighed as Quatre headed off to his classes. Duo didn't bother with the education at the Sank Kingdom, he considered this his vacation. As much as Quatre was concerned with the big picture, he just couldn't bring himself to look at the world in the same way. He was focused on the here and now, the battle in front of him.

His stomach made an audible growl. Ok, the meal in front of him…or not in front of him. Duo yawned and gave a big stretch before heading back into the main house in search of the kitchen.

It wasn't hard to find. Several hallways down he could smell dinner being cooked, the aroma was mouthwatering and made his stomach even more upset. He dropped against the wall just outside the kitchen door.

"This should be an easy task for the god of death…" Duo peered around the corner, "What the…?" he snapped back against the wall for a second before looking again. His eyes hadn't lied the ex-Oz leader was…cooking?

Duo dropped onto all fours and snuck in for a closer look. Had he just walked in on Trieze trying to poison them all? The place was designed to have a full catering staff for a very large dinner event, but Trieze was alone. There were several different stainless steel counters as well as stoves and ovens installed around the room.

Carefully watching Trieze he moved behind a cart and darted under the counter nearest to where the man was methodically dicing and preparing an assortment of fresh vegetables. There was a rack of fresh bread that had some sort of an herbal concoction mixed in.

Duo smirked as he thought to himself, 'Only one way to really know… I'll count this as taking one for the team…' Trieze moved to deposit the chopped mix into a wok and began to sauté it, turning his back completely on where the Gundam Pilot was crouching.

Duo saw his opportunity to reach out to pluck one of the rolls and dash quietly from the room. At least that was the plan until a fork suddenly slammed prongs first into the roll a moment before his fingers could touch it – sending it flipping into the air to land further back on the tray amid the other rolls.

"Yikes!" Duo cried out in surprised and quickly fell into a defensive pose facing Trieze, but was confused even further when the man was still entirely focused on tossing the contents of the wok regularly.

"You shouldn't spoil your appetite." There was a hint of laughter in the older man's voice. Duo stood up and thrust a fist out towards him righteously.

"And why is that! So I'll eat more of your poisoned goods?"

Trieze looked over his shoulder at Duo with a bemused smirk on his face and with an elegant eyebrow raised.

"Would you try and sneak off with it if you really thought it was poison? I think not." Trieze picked up a bottle of oyster sauce from the counter and added a dash.

Duo attempted to move closer, but just then Trieze turned and moved to quickly deposit the contains of the pan into a silver serving dish just next to him sending him awkwardly back-wheeling. He quickly regained his balance with a few quick steps backward and made a slightly frustrated sound.

"Hey if you can't take the pace, stay off the battlefield." Trieze winked at Duo, "You should pull out the tray in the oven behind you. I think you would like to take one of those if you are not going to be joining us at the table later."

Duo turned and regarded the oven before picking up the mitts and doing as he was told begrudgingly. Moment later when he was holding a tray full of 12 individual dishes of Shepard's pie he didn't know what he was protesting about. He certainly *was* going to take one of these! Duo stopped before fetching a dish to pile a bit of what was around the kitchen onto.

"Maybe… umm, do you need any more help? I mean… I guess I could eat with Relena and the rest. I just don't like putting on all those stuffy cloths." Trieze stopped to frown at the boy and pointed with a mixing spoon.

"You are wearing a Priest's collar, young man." He gave the statement its moment before turning back to his work. Duo couldn't think of anything to say about that and pouted a bit.

"Yeah… well… but… It's not THAT uncomfortable… I've tried on a few Oz uniforms, I can't imagine ever having to wear YOUR get-up! Who thought up those boots of yours anyways…"

He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Trieze out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't able to keep it up long, Trieze started laughing heartily. So much so, he winced in pain and had to reel back and lean against the counter behind him.

"Whoa, are you ok? Maybe you should be taking it easy after all." A few beads of sweat had appeared on Trieze's brow. He slowly took control of his breathing again.

"I will be fine," He looked up at Duo still grimacing slightly. "You certainly have a killer sense of humor God of Death. Perhaps you should take over after all..?" Trieze pulled himself back up onto the counter behind him.

Duo started a bit shyly, but Trieze, full of patience, was excellent at giving directions to step the young pilot through finishing the rest of the work. As Trieze leaned against the large fridge next to him it wasn't long before the serving platters were filled with steaming goodness.

"Right on time" Trieze reached out and pushed the call button on the intercom on the wall. Pagan's voice quickly answered it.

"Is everything ready Master Trieze? Or do you need some assistance?"

"Everything is ready, Mr. Maxwell stopped by to help. I just wanted to let you know I will be heading to my room first."

"I understand, the tailor has already been by. The wait-staff will be to the kitchen shortly. Thank you very much for your kind offer, I'm sure the head chef is enjoying his afternoon off."

The intercom clicked off and Trieze eased himself down from the counter.

"You have not done that bad, if it makes you feel more comfortable I doubt anyone would be offended if you came dressed as you are. You have certainly earned the right to pick your own dinner uniform." Trieze headed out of the room.

"Hey, wait!" Duo called after him.

"See you at dinner." Trieze kept walking and passed two maids coming in to take the food to the dinning room. Duo took a look at the spread he'd just helped create and sighed.

"That guy really knows how to make other people do his dirty work. Gezz – must be a rich guy thing…" He sulked off to wait for the table to be set.

* * *

><p><em>Prelude to Action! The long dinner…<em>

Relena had insisted since taking rule of the Sank Kingdom that Pagan was respected as more then simply the head of household staff and would sit with them at the dining table. He had indeed been an even more constant guiding presence in her life then either of her fathers or mothers.

Typically they would be joined by Noin and sometimes Sally Po when she wasn't caught up in other things. It had been an added delight when Quatre had arrived with Heero to become a regular attendant to the table.

Tonight she was surprised to find eight place settings around the table, and silently prayed one wasn't for Dorothy Catalonia. The girl was getting to be an ever increasing headache with her thoroughly self-absorbed war mongering ways.

"Who will be joining us tonight, Pagan?" Relena let the older man slide out her chair and took her usual place at the head of the table.

"Miss Noin and Major Po have confirmed that they would be here shortly. Quatre claims he has talked both Heero and Duo into privileging us with their presence. Also his Excellency has been feeling much better, I assumed you wouldn't mind if I extended him an invitation." Relena nodded as one of the maids who had prepped the table offered to fill her glass.

"I don't mind at all. I was worried his cousin would be joining us instead."

Pagan gave a short laugh at that.

"I take it Ms Dorothy hasn't begun to see the enlightenment of Pacifism?" Relena shook her head and daintily pressed two fingers against the bridge of her nose to ward off a headache. "Perhaps tonight will be a useful gathering after all." Pagan said to reassure her as he sat down on her right.

The far door opened and Noin and Sally entered still discussing the details of how to retrieve the 01, which they'd located at the bottom of the ocean. The others joined them in short order, Trieze being one of the last to arrive.

He had a natural sense for the dramatic. Entering the room in a blue and white full dress uniform and black and gold trim denoting his rank of Duke (complete with boots), but lacking the necessary requirements for an Oz officer. Since Fall and cold weather were setting in the over jacket was a blue version the formal uniform Relena typically wore on her ambassadorial trips, with an under jacket of a similar to his Oz attire but all white with the double breast design created with accent flourishes of black and gold in the Sank-style. He paused after closing the door to bow apologetically to Relena and the others.

"You will have to excuse my tardiness. I know Mr. Maxwell would be disappointed to see me any longer without my absurd boots." Trieze continued to the remaining chair at the opposite end of the table from Relena, a detail of the seating plan dictated by proper etiquette considering the two of them were of the highest social rank at the table, besides Quatre.

Duo, sitting to Trieze's left, took a moment from serving himself to bury his face in his hands; cracking up at the utter serious manner Trieze conducted himself with after making such a ridicules comment.

The others gave both Duo and Trieze looks with raised eyebrows, a little lost. Noin sitting to Trieze's right and across from Duo, knew exactly what he was talking about.

"He has a point you know, sir. Just because cavalry boots are traditional, doesn't mean they are a 'tasteful' fashion." Trieze feigned insult.

"I thought you could not wait to gain the rank of Lt. just so you would have an excuse to wear a pair of your own, Miss Noin. Tisk, tisk…" He shook his head slowly. "I see now how deeply the betrayal has been in my ranks from the start." He gave a mock scoff.

Quatre couldn't help but smile broadly at the banter between the two. He was surprised by Trieze. Perhaps he had spent too much time around Heero, but he had expected the High Commander to be far more reserved and stoic. He certainly hadn't expected a sense of humor from the man.

"Relena, have you hired a new cook? Dinner tonight is quite exceptional." Relena looked at Quatre whom was to her left, then to Pagan on her right.

"You did say Roberto took the afternoon off. Who did you find to replace him?" Pagan looked on down the table to Trieze and nodded slightly.

"His Excellency was kind enough to share his talents." The news was obviously a surprise. However it was Duo's turn to act offended.

"Ho now, Hold on a minute! I'd have you know his talents" Duo accentuated the word with an ungraceful jab of his thumb, "Would be that he went and pulled another New Edwards! I did a considerable amount of the dirty work!"

The grin that spread across Trieze's face at that particular reference was just short of demonically evil.

"You noticed." He took a sip of the wine that had been poured for him and gestured for Ms. Cassie to leave the bottle at the table.

Noin mouthed the name silently before it suddenly dawned on her. Heero had stopped eating and was eyeing the man, waiting for an explanation. Sally across from him was giving Trieze a thoroughly ugly glare.

"I suppose you **would** take pride in what happened that day." Trieze immediately sobered his expression.

"I have a right to, it was a flawless operation… excluding Lady Une's attempt to nuke the African continent. Even that disaster was averted," Trieze raised his glass to Heero. "If I had overestimated you in the slightest I doubt Operation Daybreak would have been anywhere near as successful as it was. I sincerely thank you and apologize for failing to maintain the position I gained through manipulating your efforts. It would have been the least I could have done, considering." Heero was studying the man's face.

"I appreciate your honesty. I certainly won't forget about it when I kill you, Trieze."

Trieze indeed drank to that.

The sudden intensity of the conversation made the whole room uncomfortable. Noin couldn't help but sigh at the inevitable turn considering the mix of forces in the room; Alliance, Oz, Gundams and Relena. She was surprised that Relena was the one to retort to that comment.

"Like your going to kill me, right?" That even took Heero by surprise and he looked at her wide eyed. She never was going to drop the tearing up her birthday party invitation, was she? "I think you can save your threats for later, Heero."

Trieze had a strangely bemused look on his face carefully watching the different reactions of the two. It seemed his suspicions from the strange coincidence of Relena showing up in many of the same reports as the pilot of the 01 were more then just day time musings. After all, she hadn't gone to Antarctica knowing Zech's was her brother.

"Well you're here now, aren't you your Excellency?" Quatre was striving to turn the sour mood around. "I'm sure you regret how much power you went and ruthlessly won just for Romefeller to take it away with their Mobile Dolls."

"I try not to cloud my judgment with remorse for what happens in a war, but that does not mean I am ever going to forget a single person who has sacrificed their lives or lost dear ones in the turmoil. It is just as important as maintaining a strategic upper hand over one's enemies… more important it would seem in the current era."

Duo wasn't as impressed with this response as the others may have been.

"Oh really? You're telling me you remember EVERY person who's died because of you? That's impossible; the numbers are already in the millions!"

Trieze gave him a serious look, he was quite aware of how many millions Duo was talking about.

"Try me, Duo Maxwell. Would you like to know exactly which lives you took in that fleet on your first strike on earth? How about the men on duty at that port base while you were enrolled as a student with Heero at the near-by school? I have all of their relatives addresses, perhaps you would like to follow Mr. Yuy's example and offer your life to each one of them in turn? Oh yes, I have been very much been aware of what you pilots have been up to.

"I might give out orders from the top and send men into battle, but I also take responsibility to try and make those battles ones they have a chance of coming back from. You have personally made sure that I failed countless times to uphold that responsibility I have to the families of those soldiers."

Trieze's eyes flashed with emotion and their accusations cut like diamonds. Noin could only think of the young recruits who Wu Fei had assassinated the night after their graduation.

The sudden perspective shift for the Gundam pilots sitting at the table was not something they were expecting. They knew that their were flesh and blood people in those suits they mowed down by the hundreds, but it was an easier fact to deal with seeing them as Oz soldiers instead of individuals performing their jobs.

The seemingly insane move of resigning from his post as high commander of the Oz forces was starting to make a lot more sense. Clearly, he wasn't as ruthlessly cold heart as he had seemed through the bloody haze of battle. Trieze was indeed a die-hard believer in the current conflict ravaging the earth but, he could only maintain his beliefs because of his intense sense of honor, something the Mobile Dolls removed completely with their thoughtless mass perfected strength.

"You know, I've heard your beliefs preached to me an awful lot this week by your cousin, Dorothy. I'm relieved to know that she apparently doesn't really understand them herself." Relena continued to eat. Trieze frowned.

"Dorothy? You let Dermail's granddaughter into the school at the Sank Kingdom?" Trieze gave a troubled sigh. "Perhaps you should let me look for a place to hide in the Colonies instead." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "That girl is deranged."

"That's not a very nice thing to say about one of your own relatives, Trieze." Trieze was overly curt when he answered Noin.

"Your right, I should certainly take that back. She was kind enough to inform me that it was Dermail who had his own son killed, just so I could replace him as the leader of the then newly formed Oz. She even went so far as to get the evidence I can use should I ever get the chance to bring him to court for the murder of his own brother, my father, along with my mother and sister; All for the sake of trying to sway me to eliminate him and throw a coup d'état of the Foundation itself. Psychotic is a far better term. She certainly takes after her Grandfather very well."

Noin swallowed hard at his harsh come back, it was unexpected as she'd never heard about any of this before, not from Zechs or even a hint from Trieze himself. Then again, he never spoke of his parents at all, a strange thing for nobility. Being a member of the upper echelon of society Quatre was surprised such a shocking fact wasn't better known about such a currently famous individual.

"I'd… never heard anything about your direct family before, but if you're Uncle was responsible it would figure that it wouldn't be something people talk about," Quatre was obviously suddenly feeling very sympathetic towards Trieze after this revelation. "But why would he do such a thing!"

Trieze gave a derisive scoff.

"This war, Oz, Operation Daybreak, has been in the works for far longer then any of you children realize. History has never been a random set of events. It is a well orchestrated waltz ever repeating itself as dancers move onto and off of the floor. One beat following another in perfect harmony, and players setting the pace for the entire world to follow.

"I was chosen to play a part, and you were all chosen to play your own. My Uncle saw me as an idealist who would be easy to manipulate into his plans. He made sure I was going to be home when his personal thugs came. It was a performance just for my sake, from how long they drew out my family's deaths to declaring themselves to be colonist rebels sending a message of hate to the Earth. He wanted me to HATE outer space and everything colonial dissidents stood for."

Trieze, who had adopted a deceivingly casual stance with and elbow on his armrest and two white gloved fingers tips supporting his temple, was forced to clench his hands into a fists and close his dark blue eyes in an attempt to suppress the rage growing within him. There was an almost visible tremor as he pressed on.

"I have had to hold my tongue all this time, while having to touch those hands soaked in blood he never had to watch spilling across the floor!" Trieze fist slammed down on the table, before he took a deep breath and unclenched his fingers. As he opened his eyes, like a magic spell, his exterior appearance returned to serenity. "It's unfortunate for him Nitroglycerin Mudo has been a very close friend of mine for many years and I was easily able to see the farce for what it was."

The ex-Oz Colonel had many years of practicing such extreme self control. Unfortunately, while it was part of what enabled him to keep command in even the most desperate situations it was also one of the reasons most people were so distanced from him. It was an almost inhuman talent considering the violent warrior seething underneath the outer venire of poetry and roses.

It was painfully obvious even to Relena: the Mobile Dolls and the button pushing era of war they heralded that caused Trieze's protest was rooted far deeper in the ex-commander then an idealistic philosophy about the art of war to justify the suffering of hundreds of millions of people. They perhaps hadn't been giving the man the credit he was due by writing him off as a detached dreamer with an array of very deadly weapons to play with. There was a long silence before anyone spoke.

"Did you say… you know Nitroglycerin Mudo? THE Nitroglycerin Mudo?" Duo was of course the first to shake off the gloom that was suffocating the room.

"I did. He went to my High School in Luxemburg."

"Man… do you know what happened to him? He just disappeared and there's been nothing but rumors that he was killed in a transport accident." A slight smile returned to Trieze's face thinking of his best friend.

"I started them. It was bad enough Milliardo signed up to be an Oz pilot and doomed every chance of us being able to see eye to eye again. I couldn't take having to fight against Mudo along with that." Duo was suddenly worried.

"Wait… Wha…what did you do to him?"

"Nothing." Trieze said frowning. "I urged him to disband the militias for his own good. If the Colonists were still taking an active unified roll in fighting against the Earth Sphere Marshal Noventa would have been usurped by General Septum long before I would have had a chance to make my move. He's still been running covert operations all over the Earth Sphere and even dropped into my office a few times without warning." Noin suddenly straightened.

"Wait, would he have access to an underwater carrier and suits?" She exchanged a look with Sally Po.

"For raising 01 I assume? I could always attempt to flag him down but it's never a sure thing that he will get the summons." Duo's eyes lit up, Mudo was a hero to the younger generation in the colonies.

The rest of the dinner proceeded decently. Each side had said enough against the others so that conversation was able to turn to more of a chit-chatty nature. Duo, of course, took over much of the direction of the conversation at this point leading him to wonder if he was the only one at the table with any sense for a warless life. By the end of it Trieze had finished a bottle and a half of red wine to himself and was incapable of being anything but polite and charming. There were hardly any leftovers to be stored from the silver serving dishes. They dispersed from the dinning room with newfound respect. (Adddventure Time! Any fans? Ugh… honestly I would rewrite this scene into so much else… but I'd ask any reader to forgive me for wanting to sum this all up here and now so we can get on to some fun… there is better stuff to come, this slow start up is so the characters 'modifications' don't totally throw you off when there are more important things to pay attention to… =P)

* * *

><p>For the first time since arriving at the Sank Kingdom Trieze was able to go back to a guest room of his own instead of the bed in the hospital wing. It helped elevate his mood to feel somewhat like a free man again. It had been a long time since he considered himself free. He set the half empty bottle of red he'd brought up from dinner on the coffee table in front of the extremely ornamented fireplace and laid down on the antique couch by it. He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes.<p>

A moment later he opened them again and frowned, his delicate forked eyebrows furrowing together. Something was wrong. Then he realized what it must be.

"I am guessing that is you, Heero Yuy." He said without moving from where he was. "Don't tell me you have come to end me already?" Heero stepped out of hiding and took a seat on the arm of an overstuffed chair.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?" Trieze didn't feel he had a right to answer that and gave none. "…Are you still against Relena meeting with Romefeller?"

"I thought you had already made up your mind on your feelings towards the matter, or was there something at dinner that made you reconsider my warning, Master Yuy?"

Heero gave one of his emotionless pauses before responding.

"I can't tell her what to do. I can only do everything in my power to protect her and this little country and it's not that much right now. Maybe it is like you claim and you have just as much a reason to hate Romefeller as I do. Don't think that I'm ever going to trust you, Trieze Khushrenada."

Having said his peace Heero went to fade back out of the room.

"Don't worry, I won't…"

Trieze didn't make it to his bed or even pull his thigh tall boots off before he passed out where he lay.

* * *

><p><strong>The past 4<strong>…

…**First testing of Zero Pilot Lag Control System** (Z-PLCs)

The room smelt of antiseptic when Trieze entered. There were four doctors in the room, the most noticeable of which had a strange claw for a hand, and strange glasses on.

"Lt. Trieze, if you would please have a seat."

He did so used to routine check ups and not surprised they would require an additional one right before the test flight of a new control system.

His uncle had suggested him for this little experiment since he had graduated at the top of his Alliance Mobile Suit Infantry Academy class. Oz required that all new members go through the 'special' Oz mobile suit courses before being allowed to resume their ranks. After wards he was sure his uncle planned on having him "Upgraded", as he liked to put it, to an even higher rank and claimed that this was a necessary excuse for the future promotion. He couldn't complain since he was able to stay in officer's quarters at the Lake Victoria base that was adjacent to the school instead of sharing a room in the Cadet Dorms.

The doctor was muttering to himself as he fixed up a syringe with a fluid of some-sort. He turned to Trieze when he was done.

"Alright, Jacket off, shirt off. You get to chose if you want it in your left or your right arm." Trieze began taking off the uniform.

"Well that depends, what exactly is this stuff supposed to do?" The doctor's eye's flashed.

"That's been exactly the issue you see?" Trieze furrowed his eyebrows and paused before unbuttoning the cuffs of the white undershirt, caught off guard by the supply of information. "The arrogant fool they have at the head of this bloody project, Tuber-off or something, wants 'optimum effects' rather then science, thus wants this injected into the test pilots to insure optimum frequency connection with the Zero Pilot Lag Control system. Of course he wouldn't ever admit I've created a flawless masterpiece!" Trieze relaxed, which Doctor J wasn't expecting.

"Ah, so this may overdose the effects?" Trieze asked in a polite manner. Dr. J beamed, not an incredibly pleasant thing, but a complement nonetheless.

"Precisely!" Trieze shrugged and removed his white undershirt exposing his bare arms.

"Well then, how about this one?" He rotated his left arm to expose the veins on the underside of the upper arm to the Doctor. In doing so he revealed scars crisscrossing his wrist, one being especially large and running up most of the forearm. The doctor took this in a second before he took hold of Trieze's arm, tied it up and insert the needle. "You did say it was flawless though?"

Dr. J who had just begun to walk away turned to look back at him, reminded of something he had read in Trieze's file.

"You really are the son of Sir Godrick aren't you?" Trieze's smile faded away for a more sober expression.

"Not for a long time." He said. The doctor smiled.

"We'll see about that."

Trieze re-dressed and was ushered into the briefing room with the other two pilots who had also received the injections.

(This continues later in chapter 5! ^_~... Also if you've just read this whole chapter, your a champ. Any ideas on what needs more and what needs less... be cool. PM or Reviews welcome.)


	3. Action Initiation!

The Day Had Come… Excitement – GO!

Relena Peacecraft looked at herself in the mirror gathering the strength she would need to do what she had to do. There was a knock on the door before Dorothy came in bubbling over with joy.

"Oh Miss Relena! You look just so fabulous! The limo has arrived already, I'm so sorry I couldn't come along with you!" Relena certainly wasn't.

"It will be fine Dorothy. Thank you, I'll be going now." She pulled her self away from the mirror and kept her chin up as she gracefully exited the room with Dorothy tagging along behind like a puppy dog.

Heero, Quatre and Duo were hanging out on the front steps to see her off.

"Good luck Princess!" Quatre called out to her.

"Yeah! And hope you don't need it!" Duo just had to throw in. Heero remained silent of course, but still Relena exchanged a long look with him before she climbed into the back of the black limo.

"…I really got a bad feeling about this." Duo added quietly.

"Yeah, Me too…" Heero conceded before the two headed off to the secret underground hanger that housed the white Taurus' and a nearly complete Deathscythe Hell.

Quatre stayed lost in his own thoughts a while before following them. He probably should have noticed that Dorothy wasn't hounding them like usual.

* * *

><p>There was a knock at Trieze's door.<p>

"Enter." Pagan came inside holding a large cardboard box.

"Master Trieze, I was able to get a few of the things you asked me to acquire discreetly shipped in. These are mostly cloths and the like, your car is in transit still but you're certainly welcome to barrow anything besides Miss Relena's limo in the car park should you need to make a short trip. 57736 will open the key box." Trieze got up from the desk and met the old butler half way to take the box from him and put it on his bed to sort through its' contains.

"Thank you very much, I am most appreciative. Sorry to cause you so much trouble." Pagan smiled.

"Oh it's no trouble at all." He frowned slightly. "I was very disappointed in you with all of this Oz nonsense, but I am glade in some ways that you've ended up here considering how close your father was with King Peacecraft. Even if I don't quite agree with them, I'm sure Godrick would be proud of his son and how you've stuck by your beliefs in these uncertain times."

"It means a lot to hear that from you." Trieze thought for a few moments. "Has Relena left?" Pagan nodded.

"Yes it was an hour ago," the old man shifted uncomfortably. "I know she might not appreciate it, but I was going to leave to pick her up now even if the meeting isn't supposed to be over until later. I'm sure it isn't going well."

"You do have good instincts for taking care of others Pagan, if I remember. You were always able to some how be a step ahead of the mischief I was always getting Milliardo into." Pagan chuckled at those memories, good stories indeed.

"I think you give yourself a little too much credit. Milliardo was quite capable of getting into his own trouble if I remember, but then again you've always considered him as a younger brother so that sentiment would be natural. I was a young boy once myself, even if you can't tell by looking at me now!" Trieze clasped Pagan's shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Old man, I hope you never leave us." There was a twinkle in Pagan's eye.

"Oh I have a feeling I'll be around for quite a while still. You'll have to excuse me though." Pagan bowed, and Trieze returned the gesture.

"Of course, take care and thank you again."

Pagan left the room.

He turned to the box and began to unpack it. He'd been allowed to go online now that he was helping Noin and Sally collect the Gundams and for the past days he had been working sorting through the digital turmoil. He had sent a few discrete packets of random numbers to a few individuals hoping to get Mudo's attention, but as of yet there was no reply.

He figured he'd take a walk through the garden around to the car park and maybe take a drive as well. It had been a while since he was even ALLOWED to drive a car himself with out sneaking out on his own guard and couldn't wait for his customized Hummer to arrive.

Trieze doubted Relena kept anything that would be as exciting to drive as the 4-wheeled Gundamium vehicle, with a compacted version of a Leo reactor instead of an engine. He'd had it since he was 16; being so handsome and rich going to a public high school, it certainly had been a bit of overkill when it came to picking up girls.

He had always taken full advantage of being able to have an intimate relationship with those he felt he could actually trust, instead of only interacting within the prescribed manner of proper decorum. Milliardo had always been uncomfortable about this, and although his ex-friend was usually right about the kind of trouble it got Trieze into…(Cough, Endless Waltz, Cough)…he didn't think he did as much harm as he was accused of doing.

* * *

><p>Pagan had just informed Noin of his plans to go pick up Relena and been told that the three pilots had snuck off in White Taurus suits to go wait by the Sank boarder for her return.<p>

He sighed as he typed the usual code into the storage box and retrieved the limo's key. 50 years ago if he had been told his life would be as full of danger and excitement now as it was, he would have laughed at such a ridicules idea. He unlocked the car and climbed behind the wheel as the garage door opened.

Just as he was turning the car around in the driveway he heard a shout. He stopped and looked around to see Dorothy waving frantically at him and running towards him. Briefly Pagan considered simply driving off, but that was rude and beyond his nature.

"What's the matter Miss Dorothy?" he asked after the window was rolled down. The young woman was grinning mischievously and Pagan didn't assume anything of the tiny object in one of her hands, if he noticed it at all.

Dorothy leaned on the window sill.

"Oh nothing at all…"

She depressed the tip of the object causing a cloud of gas to envelop the old man's face and stepped back. He barely had time to be surprised before he slumped to the side. She quickly looked around before she opened the door and dragged his unconscious body into the garden and pushed it under a hedge.

"Now Gundam warriors; let ME know what it's like to have such power fighting in my defense!" she laughed crazily as she sped off to mimic the drive the old butler had said he would make.

* * *

><p>Trieze was wearing a finely tailored dark blue suite, with a white button down shirt and no tie. He'd made a point of leaving his hair in a state of dishevelment to at least cast a doubt on his identity if any one were to catch a quick glimpse of him.<p>

Lost in his own thoughts, as he stroll through the garden about to reach the car park, he stopped and was staring at the disheveled drag marks on the path for a few moments before he even realize that he had ceased walking. It took a few more moments to figure out why his attention had been drawn to this detail and he knelt down to investigate further.

Pagan was laying motionless covered in dust and dirt. Trieze's eye's widened and he quickly pulled the man out into the open and checked him over for injuries and vital signs. To his relief the old butler was just unconscious. One name echoed again and again in Trieze's head.

"Dorothy."

He had to move quickly, there was no telling what she was up to. Trieze knew exactly where he should go though. He had easily hacked into the Sank Kingdom's data servers. From the errors in the floor plan for the building, as well as comparing it to an overlay of the area when the Alliance had occupied it, he managed to deduct where he would find the entrance for the underground Mobile Suite bay.

He sprinted out of the garden and into the car park adrenalin pumping through his veins, hesitating a moment he spun around and assessed the different vehicles at his disposal. Noting the space number for a Honda Shadow on the side of the room he quickly typed in the code Pagan had told him and removed its' key before continuing down the hall.

Luckily for him the door that shouldn't be there was still ajar leading to the stairwell. Pagan was an old man after all.

Noin, nor any of the other ex-Oz soldiers, were expecting Trieze Khushrenada to burst into the room just at that moment. He subconsciously noted the three missing Taurus suits from the docking bays and went straight for Noin and took her by both shoulders as if to shake her.

"Where are they? Quickly! There is no time!" Noin, well trained in priority thinking, automatically replied.

"Sank boarder, waiting on Relena…" Trieze was halfway back across the large bay before she stuttered out. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING? YOU'RE EXCELLENCY!"

The Gundam Pilots had to withdraw at once before they foolishly fell into Romefeller's obvious trap, whether or not the Princesses life was actually in danger.

"Get help to Pagan! He's in the southern garden!" He shouted before throwing himself full force back up the six flights of steps.

When he reached the car park again he stopped a few feet away from the bike. What use was he going to be defenseless? He was out the garage door running through the garden and leaped over Pagan's still motionless form silently apologizing.

It seemed to take forever to reach his room and he was sure that his entire body would probably drop to the ground if he stopped moving for a second. Trieze snatched up the saber that was lying on his dresser. It was already strung on a belt so he threw it over his shoulder before retracing his steps back down into the garden using the banister for a shortcut this time.

Noin and three other soldiers were huddled around Pagan with a medical kit by the time he returned, Trieze could see the old man was already coming around and thanked the gods that it hadn't been more serious.

Lacking patience to deal with questions and urged on by the desire to make a difference on the ground level for once, he hardly slowed. Instead, he jumped onto another one of the stone benches that dotted the garden paths and used it to leap up onto a rectangular stonework pillar lamp and volt onto the garden wall following it past the group and cut the corner to the garage.

Noin reached the open door way just in time for her protests to be completely drowned out by the roar of the motorcycle engine as Trieze took off full speed past her and down the driveway. One of the soldiers came to stand besides her, also looking after the fading dust trail.

"Was that…Colonel Trieze?" Noin gave a sigh and shook her head.

"No, that was Blue Shepherd…" The man was puzzle. Noin didn't clarify; a smile was spreading across her face despite the worrying feeling that was growing from the obvious peril they might all be in very soon. "…back from the abyss, I see."

* * *

><p><em>Trieze's flight into space for Second Space Tour commanding first Elite Oz Mobile Suit squadron<em>…

(Before Episode Zero)**But with a tweeked timeline... Uhh as review points out... so I'm calling on the "Time Warp" trump card for that one, a lot has been changed to the pre-story line so things don't happen at the same rate/year as they would have? I'm thinking we're all gonna have to pretend Zechs and Noin are closer to 22… Be creative.*

Noin was partially lounging facing away from him still nude and lightly surrounded by the bed sheets at the end of the bed. A young Trieze Khushrenada moved closer and wrapped his arms around her trying to keep hold of the elegant wonder this talented pilot could always inspire in him. His talented Lucrezia. She was already beginning to out class his own technical piloting skills but she still had so much experience to gain before she would truly be able to outclass him on a real battlefield.

That experience however, was now telling him that something was wrong; he would probably never get to hold her like this again.

"You're going, aren't you." He could feel her tense at his words.

"It's not a very big ship, I'm sure someone will start wondering soon enough." That made him sigh, the truth of it remained that it was to be just this one night.

"That is not what I meant." He tucked his chin over her shoulder and gently brushed his lips up her neck line and placed a kiss on her cheek before he whispered into her ear. "You're thinking about going and your not coming back to me." Noin twisted in his arms to stare into his icy blue eyes. There was a hint of a plea in her eyes.

"Trieze… please, before we did this we both knew it was wrong."

The sadness in his eyes almost hurt her but she knew that he understood the position they were putting themselves in. He looked down and picked up one of her hands caressing it with his own as if trying to remember every detail of the strong delicate contours of her palm and each finger.

"Do you…" He was unsure if he could really ask what he wanted to know with simple words. "…could you…love me?" Noin tightened her fingers around his hand and brought it up to her lips to kiss it lightly.

"I…" She searched his features, trying to find an answer to describe the way she felt. "I do love you…but most of all, I love you as my commander. When your on the battlefield I know that you're always going to fight as hard as you can so that their as few casualties as possible. I trust you more completely then anyone I've ever trusted in my life."

She clasped his hand with her other as well and drew it close to her chest.

"No matter how desperate and impossible, you always strive to rise to every challenge in combat and I do get a sense of security when I know you're leading us. But…" She let go of his hand. "I would never fit into the world you come from Trieze. I'm a soldier, not some high class nobility. I can't play those games."

Trieze slumped back and didn't make any attempt to touch her further, or stop her when she rose and gathered the scattered articles of her uniform.

He hardly moved at all for a long time after she had left the room.

"I love you." he whispered to the then empty room. "…just you, Lucrezia Noin."

* * *

><p><em>Back in 195<em>...

An electronic scanning alert echoed through their respective cockpits. The iconic ping the three boys dreaded to hear.

"Looks like Romefeller is gonna play dirty after all!" Duo began to prep his suit to intercept the Mobile doll carriers. Their detected heading would cut off Relena's limo before it crossed the boarder. They had spotted Pagan drive by to pick her up from their camo-nets earlier.

"Wait, Duo…are we sure this is the best course of action? If we attack now Romefeller will know for sure that the Sanc Kingdom has armed itself!" Duo stopped what he was doing; he already knew that there was only one person's opinion that mattered right now.

"If they kill Relena, it's all over. We're moving in, Now!" Heero's suit lifted off and quickly shifted into its flight mode before bursting away. Duo and then Quatre followed swiftly after.

"I'm still not sure about this…" Quatre knew it was better to act as a team then let the sense of dread he had get in the way.

* * *

><p>Trieze Khushrenada crested a hill just in time to see the triple burst of the three Taurus' over the tree line jetting off into the distance. Damn, he was probably too late. He knew that the pilots would have their communication lines shut down to prevent being detected and no matter how hard Noin tried she wouldn't be able to get through to them. He pushed the CC motor as hard as it could go.<p>

The minutes were achingly long, although his legs were probably mostly to blame for that, but eventually he heard the percussions of the battle engaging as well as the roar of the Taurus suits. He frowned; the now familiar whirring of planet defensors deployed by Virgo Mobile Dolls was not a part of the clash he was fast approaching.

It was hard to tell what was going on from ground level, but caught sight of the pink limo about to cross a bridge spanning a deep ravine. At about the same time he finally was able to see that the Romefeller air carriers were full of olive green Leos, no doubt reengineered as Mobile Dolls.

He could only imagine what horrible misinformation could be promoted with footage from this conflict; they weren't even painted Romefeller's dark blue colors! Three Gundam pilots in atmosphere modified Taurus suits would have an extremely difficult time dealing with three carriers of Virgos. But it was obvious that without manned Aries officers for support, the animated Leos were falling hard and fast to the more maneuverable suits.

Trieze brought his bike to a stop as quickly and carefully as he could and then wheeled it off the road before taking cover next to a large granite boulder. He waited with baited breath watching the limo cross the bridge and approach his position whilst the fighting continued over head. As he was preparing to rush out and intercept the limo there was a huge crash that shook the ground.

A Leo had landed, thrusters hot, in the road just behind the limo. It raised its gun and fired an arc just in front of the vehicle. Trieze was forced to throw himself onto the ground as the top half of the rock he was hiding behind disintegrated under the explosive charges, along with his bike and most of the surrounding vegetation.

"…Been a long time since that happened!" he couldn't help exclaim as he spat out some of the dirt that had gotten into his mouth. The amount of adrenaline in his system, already high from the ride over, had shot up ten fold. He rushed out towards the Leo drawing his saber – seeming a thoroughly useless gesture against such a massive machine.

* * *

><p>The three pilot's ambush had stalled just after the final carrier was taken out. They were being forced to dodge just enough that it was tough to actually deliver any decisive strikes against the enemy suits.<p>

Quatre was the first to notice the worst case scenario they imagined about to unfold as one of the Leos was able to disengage from the fight and turn its attention to what they assumed was their primary target.

"It's targeting Relena! I can't get there in time!" He cried out in frustration.

* * *

><p>Trieze's charge took him right past the crashed pink limo allowing him a split second to confirm Dorothy was the only occupant of the car. Trieze focused every bit of concentration he had just as the Leo was about to fire another burst and made what would seem like a short leap into the air. Except, it was as if the air around him suddenly became more solid and for a moment it was almost as if he was moving in slow motion just before there was a crack as his saber split through releasing a massive invisible wave of energy that arched out and severed the Leo's left leg just above the ankle joints.<p>

The Leo's gun was jerked up as the suit fell sideways and hard onto the knee of its' damaged leg with the small power cells that powered the articulated limb sparking and detonating at the end. The gun's burst went wide of its target. This was just enough time for Heero to punch through the cordon of incoming fire and, cutting through a blocking enemy suit, deliver a final devastating blast into the Leo. The three Taurus suits landed in a semicircle on the road soon after the final enemy fell.

Trieze could hear a chopper approaching from behind; Noin no doubt. He looked up at the White Mobile Suits.

"You should have let them destroy the limo!" Duo's cockpit door opened and he propelled down. Heero knit his brow. He already felt that a mistake had been made.

"What are you saying!" Quatre was still wondering what exactly had happened on the ground.

"Relena never left the foundation headquarters." He added, "Isn't that right, Dorothy?" when he heard the car door behind him open up.

Duo was confused to see the freakish-eye-browed girl emerge from the driver's side of the limo. The chopper touched down. Heero and Quatre dismounted their suits as well and converged on where Trieze was standing. Noin was the first to speak when she reached the group.

"They broadcasted a live feed from the primary carrier and declared that the Foundation would be holding Princess Relena until the matter can be thoroughly investigated. I'm sorry, it seems so obvious now but I really don't see what they have to gain by imprisoning her." Dorothy laughed delightedly, this whole exchange was far better then she could have ever imagined it!

"Oh I think you'll find that the foundation is far more capable of realizing Miss Relena's world dream then she would ever be able to on her own!" the assembled group stiffened. Trieze smoothly elaborated the picture for everyone.

"Duke Dermail is too callous and lacking character to make a proper leader. So, they have been without a figurehead to rally support to since my resignation. Now they have someone beloved by the entire world and preaching that only non-resistance to their rule will bring peace." Dorothy's eyes flashed with excitement.

"Oh Mr. Trieze! Are you going correct that error and lead the entire world to battle against the Foundation!"

The four pilots that were gathered got a close up demonstration of what had happened to the Leo's leg as Trieze lashed out angrily at the girl, sending another wave flying just over her head to cut down the remaining trees the Mobile Suite fire had missed. The short charge had brought him within a foot or two of the girl and he rested the blade just above her collar bone.

"That is not my place! Do you have any idea what your doing helping that monster?" She seemed totally undeterred by the show of violence.

"Monster? I didn't know Miss Relena was a monster to you? Can't you see that this is perfect! It's only a matter of time before Grandfather realizes he can't possibly compete with popularity like hers!" Dorothy laughed again. "How shameful it's going to be when the very puppet he is trying to use to distract the world turns into the real ruler of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation!"

Trieze withdrew his blade and sheathed it, his thoughts swirling. Heero spoke in a defeated voice knowing he should have swayed to Quatre's better judgment from the start.

"We let her fall right into their trap. DAMN it!"

Trieze looked at him sharply.

"You have not taken the best course of action so far but I would not be so sure of your assessment, Master Yuy. The national boarders have not been dissolved yet." He glanced up at the White Taurus suits, which had sustained virtually no damage in the conflict. His expression hardened with determination. "The Princess must be brought back to the Sanc Kingdom. We should fall back and analyze the situation further."

Trieze was so used to giving orders that it didn't even occur to him that he hadn't left the decision open for discussion as he turned on his heel, striding off.

The two other Gundam Pilots were stunned when Heero, instead of protesting, pulled a gun on Dorothy and roughly lead her in front of him following Trieze back to the chopper. It was as if he was following an unspoken command from the man.

Noin shook her head and shrugged when they turned their questioning stares on her after the aircraft had lifted off with the three of them.

"I'm just as thrown off by all this as you. Maybe we should just be thankful they're willing to work together for now." She climbed into Heero's Taurus took off back for the Sanc Kingdom along with Duo and Quatra.

* * *

><p><strong>Mission: Heero &amp; Trieze Late Night Rescue Foray…<strong>

Later that night, when Heero was alone in the docking bay working on a computer, he sensed someone coming up behind him and almost drew the old CZ52 pistol lying next to him.

Earlier Heero, still the head commander of the Kingdom's defense forces, had Dorothy's entire room searched by the ex-Oz guard before assigning them to keep her confined to her quarters. The conditions were – at all times; with guns. The Princess wasn't in the Kingdom to argue against it. Noin, Quatre, Duo and Sally were in the conference room of the main house trying to devise a strategy to deal with the dilemma.

He relaxed a little when he recognized the man wearing a low level Romefeller guard's uniform to be Trieze Khushrenada. A set of cloths were thrown at Heero. He caught the flimsy bundle as gracefully as one could.

"We should go now, my HVG just arrived." is all Trieze said. The two of them hadn't discussed any sort of plan of action before this moment, but Heero was beyond needing a briefing on the matter. He looked at the uniform he'd just been given and put it aside with no intention of putting it on.

"I figured Duo won't mind doing me another favor. Are you going to be able to get inside, find her and get out in time?" He gathered up a disk of updated intelligence data on MD fighting abilities and the gun on the table and started walking towards the Deathscythe Hell.

"I did live there a good deal of the time. I will be much faster at finding my way to where she is likely to be and getting back out. You just concentrate on drawing all the attention and getting out in time."

"Mission Acknowledged." The two of them parted ways as Trieze headed for his armored vehicle upstairs.

It was unassuming on the outside, aside from being a massive gold SUV with blue accent. However, when Trieze climbed inside, closed the door and strapped himself in the heads-up display on the front and side windows powered to life on its own and ran through the system start up sequence. Had Heero or one of the other Gundam Pilots been there it would have been all too familiar.

Trieze donned the thin framed light blue tinted sunglasses that had a chip with a remote link to the HVG's computer and a similar ability to display information across the inside of the lenses as the windows. It also created a hands free interface with the Zero Pilot Lag Control system he had managed to steal and install after being a part of one of its first test groups. It seemed to have so much more potential to Trieze then just a tool for heightening ones killing abilities.

He connected the com system to the low profile frequencies the Deathscythe Hell would be monitoring since they would still allow the suite to maintain its stealth. It was too bad all mobile suits couldn't have the same ability or the disaster that occurred previously that day might have been averted.

Trieze almost immediately picked up an encoded message with the approximate route and ETA that Heero was going to use to stage his attack. Not wanting to let the young pilot down, he set the car in motion and headed out at nearly 250mph; air jets and small boosters maintaining the vehicles upright orientation as it veritably flew around corners. The four massive tires were almost just for show as it rocketed onwards towards the Sanc boarder and the Foundation Headquarters beyond.

* * *

><p>Relena had been taken to a room and locked inside after the Gundam Pilots had been goaded into showing themselves. She had had no idea about the secret underground Mobile Suit bay and the small fighting force it held. Noin and the others rightly assumed that she would have ordered it all disassembled at once for exactly this reason. It was too late for that now.<p>

It was indeed very late but she wasn't going to be able to sleep for some time. Relena sighed as she put one of her hands against the cold glass of the window. As much as she wished Heero would come and save her, she also knew it would be a very foolish thing to do now that Romefeller had all the evidence it needed to undermine all her hard work.

There was a click as the door was unlocked from the outside. Relena turned sharply, when it opened without a knock to announce the person her heart leapt into her throat thinking it was indeed Heero Yuy. She then felt it sickeningly drop down into the pit of her stomach when she recognized the troll-ish old man to be Tuberov, Romefeller's chief Mobile Suit Engineer. Relena turned sharply to look back out the window, unwilling to let the man see the emotions struggling within her.

"Why hello Miss Relena, pardon my intrusion... How do you fair this fine evening?" The man made a low almost mocking bow before he continued his slow advance on the young girl.

* * *

><p>Trieze was impressed with Heero's effectiveness. They'd reached their respective nav-points at just the right moment allowing Heero to mount a brief assault and then almost imminently make a teasing retreat to cause a gap to open up where it was impossible for the Mobile Doll operators to keep up with the battle feed. While on their automatic deployment mode, the general shape and schematics of the HVG caused it to be completely overlooked by the Mobile Doll defense alerts.<p>

He soon found himself down the hall from the quarters he suspected they would keep the young Princess in. There was something out of place about the lack of guards. Trieze's worry multiplied when the long elegant handle dropped with no resistance; the room was unlocked. He stiffened at the sound of a muffled struggle before springing into action.

Tuburov, too intent on keeping Relena subdued, was caught completely by surprise when he was wrenched backwards and found himself staring into the enraged face of Trieze Khushrenada. He hardly had a chance to cry out before Trieze's fist slammed into his jaw shattering it and sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor.

Without hesitation Trieze drew the suppressed Glock 17 at his side and shot the foul Mobile Doll designer in the loins before he stepped forwards and pinned the writhing man with a boot to the chest, his eyes still locked onto the man's face.

"This – is how you kill someone." He fired another round into his forehead.

Trieze put the gun back in its holster before he turned to Relena who was sitting with her legs drawn up to her chest staring vacantly at the scene. He smoothly slid next to her in a one knee crouch on the bed. Removing the tinted glasses he gently cupped her face with both hands forcing her to make eye contact with him.

"Heero and I are going to take you home right now, Relena. We must get out of here very, very quickly." Relena vaguely climbed out of the state of shock enough to try and reach for the dress pants that Tuburov had managed to remove. Trieze was overwhelmed with relief he had gotten there soon enough the old man hadn't gotten any further.

Trieze, not wanting to lose the brief window of time they had to escape undetected, quickly grabbed each of her ankles in turn and helped her feet find their way through their respective legs before replacing his glasses and simply scooping the teenager up into his arms and heading back out the door.

When they approached the vehicle Trieze had left parked outside, there were renewed sounds of combat near by. He gently put Relena down in the passenger's seat and buckled her in before taking a flare gun out of the glove compartment.

Looking past the corner of the nearest building he caught a glimpse of the Deathscythe Hell dodging in and around the enemies. The glasses displayed a targeting readout as he leveled the gun allowing him to fire the green incendiary so that it exploded noticeably close to the conflict. The battle feed monitors only displayed in a red and green Tactical Schematic Analysis mode for the human directors to observe the battle through. The flare signal was indistinguishable from a normal small explosion to the color blind Mobile Dolls. Mission Complete, time for full retreat.

He sped off over the rough terrain for a distance before swerving onto the road and flooring it back towards the Sank Kingdom. Heero took off in the opposite direction with the intent to circle back around once he managed to drop off the radar.

"Thank you." was all Relena said.

They spent the entire trip back in silence.

* * *

><p>"Hey! Heero! Buddy! Tell me…have you ever had an issue where your Gundam flies off to attack something on its own? You better not have broken it." Duo had gotten up with an annoyed look and crossed his arms over his chest when the stoic Pilot entered the room. He dropped his arms to his sides in surprise when Relena followed Heero into the room. Quatre rose from his seat.<p>

"Miss Relena, are you alright?" Noin quickly went to her and pulled her into a hug.

"We're so thankful to have you back with us." She caught sight of Trieze still in the Romefeller uniform hanging back in the doorway behind the girl. From his expression she imminently knew that something was terribly wrong.

She'd seen that look only once before; after her first space tour under Trieze's command as a part of the very first Elite Oz Pilot squadron.

The 9 month tour had ended early due to a conflict that had sprung up when the Alliance troops had gone to suppress a group of terrorists. Trieze had disobeyed orders and fought in their defense when the Alliance General ordered the Barton hospital destroyed in a desperate move to end the fight. Without the rest of the squad to back him up, and the "Terrorists" not actually a threat to the Alliance Mobile Suits to begin with, he was overwhelmed and unable to save the structure… or any of the staff trapped inside. If it weren't for the higher powers of the Romefeller Foundation, he would have been court marshaled and given a dishonorable discharge then and there.

Noin glanced at Heero but the young man either wasn't aware, or simply wasn't giving any clues. She continued ignoring it for now.

"I'll go make some tea… I think you need to explain exactly what stunt you've gone and pulled here." She let go of Relena who was still silently lost in her own thoughts and grabbed Trieze by the lapel of the uniform and towed him off with her to the kitchen.

She started in on him as soon as they were alone.

"Do you mind telling me what the hell you think you were doing? We were still trying to figure out the right course of action, and you sneak off with Heero on a completely reckless errand? You might hate your cousin but she might have been right this time! Who knows what Romefeller's response to this is going to be!" Noin went about getting a kettle ready and setting up a tray of tea cups.

Trieze folded his arms across his chest and leaned against a counter. His expression was still dead serious and lacking any of the light charm he usually kept on his countenance.

"I do not think it was reckless at all. Heero has a duty to ensure the Princess' safety. I was happy to provide ground support." Noin gave him an incredulous look.

"If that's true then why do you look like something absolutely horrible went wrong?" Trieze clenched his jaw, but kept his voice even when he responded.

"Horrible? Not at all… The Sanc Kingdom still has a chance to denounce the actions of the White Taurus suits along with the Gundams. The Kingdom of peace will still stand for a while longer. Even if being captured by Romefeller is an unavoidable end, it is not time for that yet; there are still too many pieces that need to fall into place before that happens." He paused briefly before adding,

"…a bullet or two might have found their way into Chief Engineer Tuberov whilst I was trying to locate Relena, but I doubt that will really cause much of a stir…"

Noin's incredulous look got even drier at that and she put down the kettle of now hot water she was about to pour into the tea pot.

"I can't believe it. You actually used this as an excuse to satisfy your own grudges and assassinate Tuberov? Trieze I'm starting to wonder if you're to be trusted anymore…"

Trieze could deal with the accusation on his honor, he wasn't about to reveal what had really happened. Noin finished with the tea tray and stormed out of the room past him.


	4. Gather Forces of Peace!

**Digging in for the Long Haul: Gather the Forces of Peace!**

(No, section 1 is not a 13xR, get your mind out of the gutter! I will make note when I leave selections out, this is not one of those times.)

* * *

><p><strong>"In the dark it is easy to pretend …!.. That the truth is what it ought to be…"<strong>

**–Phantom of the Opera – Music of the Night.**

Relena had retired to her room a short while after she'd gotten back and changed out of the Ambassador's Uniform and into a pair of magenta silky pajamas with a button-up shirt. It was a long time before she realized she'd been sitting on the white thick-cushioned couch staring vacantly at the empty fireplace in front of her. Even once she was aware of the fact, it didn't change that she had no idea what to do. Relena was exhausted but she couldn't bring herself to get up and go lay down in her own bed.

The quiet knock at her door gave her far more of a fright then it should have. As much as she wished Heero was there with her right then, to face the strong willed pilot was the last thing she wanted. It was more likely to be Noin anyways. She tentatively crossed the room and wondered a minute if maybe she should simply ignore it, pretending to be asleep. The feeling of loneliness overcame her fear of whom ever it was calling so late.

Relena cracked her door open and was further startled to find Trieze dressed in a loose white linen shirt and dark blue silky pajama pants holding a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"I thought I would stop by to ask if you would care to share a glass with me…"

Trieze kept his voice low so it wouldn't echo down the hallway. Relena almost refused politely and closed the door. She made the mistake of looking into the twin deep oceans of his dark blue orbs. It felt like he was staring right into her soul and she was left with no where to hide.

Without a word she pushed the door open wider and stepped back to allow him to enter the room. Trieze crossed to the couch and set the two glasses down and pulled the cork out of the bottle. He had already opened it before he had set out. Relena closed the door and hesitantly approached the couch where Trieze was sitting. If he was here she might as well get to the point.

"So… I assume you told Miss Noin."

Trieze stopped before pouring the wine and turned his head slightly in her direction, but didn't look up at her.

"That I assassinated Tuberov? Yes, I told her that." Relena was puzzled by his choice of words.

"I thought that she was upset…" Trieze did look at Relena now.

"…because I killed Tuberov." Relena finally took a seat next to him on the couch and he filled the two glasses, Relena's a bit lighter then his own.

"So you didn't…tell her…" Trieze swirled his glass gently before taking a sip.

"No. That is for you to do, when and if you choose," He regarded the girl trying to pick up on what her thoughts were at the moment. "…unless you would like me to."

Relena jerked to look at Trieze wondering if that had been a threat. Her fear more obvious then she perhaps wanted. He picked up her glass and put it in her hand.

"Relena…" Trieze sighed wondering how he was going to tackle both winning her trust and comforting her at the same time. Fighting off three Virgos with a single Leo was probably easier then the task at hand.

"You of all people hardly have to feel responsible for me, Trieze Khushrenada." Relena automatically took a sip from the glass she had been given.

"You are wrong; I have every reason to feel responsible. I was the one to order your adoptive father assassinated. I did have a big part in driving Milliardo from his fate to return to the Sanc Kingdom. True, perhaps I should be convincing Heero to take my place, as you would rather prefer…but I am sure you realize that it is going to be a long time before he will be able to put aside this war and just be a human being." He put his glass down on the table. "It is just too unfair that you would suffer further from the lack of these people who could be here for you now." She couldn't keep the slight tremor out of her voice when she replied.

"How do you know I wouldn't just want to be alone?" Trieze put a hand on her shoulder, his voice lightening.

"You let **me** in, Relena. I have known a lot of people who have gone through a lot of things…maybe that is something you are looking for, even if you would prefer to find it else where." Relena didn't know why but it was as if his words were peeling back some numb outer layer; the pain that flooded in forced tears out her eyes.

Trieze caught her glass as she began to be overwhelmed by tears and guided it down onto the table for her. He didn't wait for any invitation from her and pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her, one hand cradling her head into his shoulder as she sobbed uncontrollably. He made soft comforting sounds as he gently rocked her and stroked her hair waiting for the emotional storm to pass.

"You are going to be just fine… Someone tried to hurt you very badly… and you know you are going to have to go back there, a very frightening thing indeed, but he can not hurt anyone anymore… you are stronger then you think…" Relena regained some control.

"How can I be when all I do is talk about non-violence and peace? Everywhere people are dying and I can't even defend myself or my country!" Trieze waited for her renewed tears to subside a bit more before responding.

"You are not supposed to defend yourself, Relena – that is the whole point of Pacifism. You were there and saw how easy it was for me to kill that man. You still see the physical force I used and the gun I took his life with and identify that with strength. Look at me though, what strength have I had to exert now, as a winner, to deal with what happened? Whilst here you, Relena, struggle on…"

Trieze gently lifted her chin so he could look into her lighter sky blue eyes and wiped away some of the tears that were still falling before continuing,

"It is about Fear, and what that does to the mind. Even my fears for you put me in a position where I might not have opened my mind to all the possible solutions. To overcome fear and be able to simply endure the suffering that others inflict…" he gave a heavy sigh, "…perhaps, despite the trials you have had to face so far, you now truly understand the strength that is required to be a Pacifist. I know that despite all **my** talents: it is something I will **never** be able to do."

Relena was set into a somewhat awed daze as his words washed over her. Her emotions shot, she couldn't help but start laughing weakly.

"Who would ever think the Great Colonel, Trieze Khushrenada, would give ME a lesson about Pacifism?"

Trieze smiled a little at the apparent progress.

Relena bit her lip and looked down, something was still wrong. "It's just…" she didn't know how to convey everything that was flashing through her head right then about the events earlier. "…he…it…it was so… I don't… I'm worried… I've never…" It looked like she was about to start crying again.

Trieze's well experienced intuition had an idea of the issue that was troubling her. Relena wasn't the first female he'd helped deal with this kind of abuse. Unfortunately, this was the first best friend's (ex-best friend's) much younger sister he'd ever tried to comfort after such an ordeal and could only improvise so much on tried and true tactics.

Relena was shocked, literally, as Trieze brought her chin up higher this time and gently placed his lips against hers and held them there. It was like the contact sent a lightning bolt through her whole body that intensified as he shifted his hand to rest gently against her neck line, his fingers delicately brushing across the skin along her jawline. It was an entirely different experience from the sickening draining feeling that had come from the old man's crushing lips and forcing tongue.

Sensing the light pressure of her pulling back on his fingertips he withdrew, but continued to cradle the side of her head with his hand, searching her face for clues about how much and how quickly he should start apologizing.

"I am not Heero, but I am not Milliardo or your father either… maybe now you know there is nothing wrong with you? You have nothing to be afraid of."

Relena sank into his chest and buried her face into his shoulder again. There were no tears this time; the pain had been purged from her body by the jolt. Instead she felt an almost hungering urge to feel more of that tingling energy. It faded away quickly at the foolishness of the idea.

He let her rest in his arms for a while before he checked the clock mounted on the wall, it was so late it was early morning.

"You should go to sleep."

Relena pulled her head up but couldn't look at him.

"You're going to go?" Trieze couldn't help smiling at that, a woman is still a woman at any age.

"Princess, your wish is my command. I will go if and when you want me to; right now you need to go to sleep. You have a long day ahead of you – today."

Relena also looked over at the clock with that reminder of the unstoppable progression of time. She started to get up but Trieze simply hooked one arm under her knees and stood lifting her in his arms. He carried her over to the bed and in one smooth motion slid the sheets back and gently lay her down before sliding in next to her and drawing the sheets up for them both. He settled with his left arm around her so that her head was resting on his left shoulder.

Laying there listening to the rhythm of his heart and breathing, Relena began to wonder a little about the man who'd fallen to her rescue.

"Trieze… What was your sister like?"

Unknowingly, Relena had touched on the one genuine reason, amid all the other excuses, that had driven him to seek her out that night. He hesitated before answering.

"Terra was…bright, troublesome, she would have been a hell of a fighter." He swallowed against a lump that was forming in his throat. "She was only 12."

Relena was slowly starting to fall asleep from the warmth of his body so close to hers; her mind drifting off already.

"What did they do to her…"

Trieze could feel her breathing evening out and her muscles relaxing, but now was completely numb otherwise.

"They beat and raped her after she watched our parents die. Took hours…she did not live long after they were done with her." Relena snapped back to consciousness and lifted her head to stare wide-eyed at his emotionless face.

"How can you –"

She stopped dead when she saw the cold diamonds that his eyes had become. However seemingly casual his words were, his feelings on the matter were not. Trieze wrapped both his arms around her and pulled her tightly against himself silently urging for her to sleep.

Relena realized that this whole time: Trieze had sought her out as refuge from the memories of his haunted past, just as much as her own sake. For the first time ever, she got a real glimpse of understanding exactly how much it had taken to create the infamous leader.

She was alone when she woke hours later, any evidence of the encounter the night before gone from the room.

* * *

><p>Debriefing for the Missions ahead…<p>

Relena had slept through breakfast and was surprised it was already lunch time. Usually she would have been woken up no matter what; especially with the turmoil that she was likely to face in the political scene after the events of the previous day. When she walked into the dinning room to find that Noin, Quatre and Trieze were already there as if expecting her; she realized she probably shouldn't have been.

Noin was noticeably sitting across from Quatre and as far away from Trieze, at the other end of the table, as possible. So it was true: What had turned her mood last night was anger towards Trieze's actions and not that she had been disturbed by knowledge of the truth.

Trieze, once again decked out in the colors of the Sanc Kingdom, seemed to be ignoring the situation and his food; twirling a fork delicately with the fingers of his left hand and was intent on the small portable computer at his right elbow.

Pagan entered.

"Master Trieze, there is someone here to see you."

Trieze stiffened and looked down the table to lock eyes with Relena; hoping for a revelation of what waited behind him. Confused a little, he placed the fork back down in its respective place and rose from his chair before turning to regard the man who Pagan had just shown into the room. His worries flew away at the more then familiar face.

"You rotten piece of slimy shit..." Nitro Mudo had a cold angry expression eyeing Trieze. "You've got one hell of a nerve, you know that?"

Trieze was suddenly crestfallen not expecting the harsh welcome and took a diplomatic stance.

"Whatever I have done to incense your wrath, surly can be set aside –," Mudo cracked a huge smile and cut him off rushing forwards to enfold Trieze in a crushing undignified embrace that almost knocked him off of his feet.

"After that stunt, I thought the old man was finally going to kill you!" taking in Trieze's further confusion at the sudden turn around in his attitude, "What? You think I would give up on you like Milliard? We are too much a like old friend! It would be like giving up on my own self! What a waste of hope that would be…" finishing with an expression of distaste.

Duo had been attracted to the activity and stuck his head in through the opposite door. Spotting the iconic revolutionary, he felt a thrilling surge of joy and quickly slipped in to join the table. For the first time he noticed that Nitro wore a uniform that was an exact match to the style of Oz tailoring Trieze typically wore. Only; to match his long black hair; it was black, white and silver with black pants instead of: blue, white and gold with white. The look complete with shorter knee high boots, instead of the full grandeur of the cavalry tradition, and his legendary Gundamium Katana strapped across his back. Duo stayed quietly watching the man and his interaction with the ex-Oz Colonel.

"I was saved again thanks to his affinity for slow torture." That reply gave Mudo pause as he looked his friend over again.

"Well your looking pretty decent besides…Now what was this business about aquatic support?" Trieze turned and picked up the compact computer he'd been working on before Mudo's arrival and gestured for his friend to take a seat at the table as he did.

"The foundation is already making moves to eliminate the Sanc Kingdom again –" Whether Trieze was actually going to finish or not, Nitro cut in.

"So you want to raise the 01 off the ocean floor?" Nitro produced a mini-disk and inserted it into Trieze's computer. "Definitely something that should be done quickly since Romefeller is already narrowing in on the position. A definite bonus is that they already have the Heavy Arms unit in their possession. Rashid's informed me the Maganac Corps is already taking up positions to retrieve it." Quatre looked over and almost stood up out of his seat.

"The Maganac's! How do they fair? I haven't been able to contact them since I returned to Earth…" Mudo smiled.

"Quatre Raberba Winner, right? You've been an excellent heavy assault support for them. They've done alright for themselves without you even against these Virgo Dolls. You have my utmost sympathies for the loss of your father; I hope all your sisters are doing alright?"

Quatre wasn't as familiar as Duo with who Mudo was, since he didn't grow up on the streets hanging out with revolutionaries, even if he'd heard of the Mudo family. Even so, he took the complement with a smile – not wanting to think about what had occurred in space too much.

"They're all fine, Thank you."

"Well, actually…" Nitro continued once the formalities were out of the way. "Rashid was looking for some cover support for their retreat to the Sanc Kingdom… you should be able to look into it, I believe they have something of yours that got left behind."

Quatre nodded.

"If that's so, it will be easy."

Heero appeared out of no where and remained standing by the wall behind Noin.

"You should coordinate with Sally Po she's already started making plans to go after the same target." Noin, startled out of her own thoughts watching the newcomer, turned in her seat to regard Heero before going back to silently contemplating everything that had been happening. With a great yawn Duo figured it was time to jump in.

"So…I guess it's you and me, super star, working together again to get 01 raised?" Remembering more of last time, Duo scrunched his face unpleasantly. "And please Heero, this time, can we NOT shoot it with the torpedoes when it surfaces? Howard really didn't appreciate having to dive down and pull up TWO suits…it cost me a **lot** of scrap metal."

It was somewhat of a shock to hear, in response, a brief burst of mirth from the typically emotionless boy. After the room recovered from the incident – Mudo continued, giving his old friend a sly look.

"Trieze, I should also have you know that I stopped by and got a status update on your 'little projects'." There was a wide grin across his face. "Planning on finally making good on that speech and upgrading to… What was it you called the Gundams? Losers? …Upgrading to Loser Pilot status?" He was laughing. The Gundam Pilots were a bit less amused since they never read the transcript of Trieze's Resignation speech.

Trieze could only chuckle sheepishly, having known he would have to own up to this criticism from Nitro eventually. It was a regular occurrence for Mudo to show up in his personal quarters, no matter how heavily guarded the base was, in, what he called, 'an attempt to keep Trieze in touch with reality'. Honestly, it just goaded Trieze to come up with even more flamboyant public speeches, pushing the boundaries of how ridiculous he could get **and still** be taken seriously. Mudo claimed he was just reacting to the obvious cry for help, though it was more likely to be the frustration of having promised to keep out of the political spectrum…giving Trieze the stage all to himself.

"Hm, we will see about that – but, if either one is nearly complete it should not be left out, the Sanc Kingdom is going to need all the help it can get." A sure steady voice came from the opposite end of the table.

"The Sanc Kingdom does not need to be preparing to stage a war, gentlemen. The entire point is to set an example for better ways to resolve conflicts then resorting to destruction and bloodshed."

Despite the fact that Relena was speaking against the plans that they were in the midst of forming, Trieze couldn't help but feel another wash of relief that she had certainly found her direction once more (whatever the cause).

"Miss Relena. If we let the Sanc Kingdom be destroyed, then who will remain to set that example? Please, let us act as an independent force that can give the philosophy of Pacifism credence amidst this war torn era."

Relena narrowed her eyes; a little confused by the fact that his intentions now completely contradicted the course that he himself had encouraged her to pursue the night before. Was this why Lady Une; whom Noin had mentioned was in an affair with her superior commander; had seemed to act so irrationally while trying to follow Trieze's orders?

There was a long pause before Relena gave her answer.

"No. I will not condone it. If you gather weapons within the Sanc Kingdom, no matter what their use, it is not with my permission."

Quatre and Duo looked startled at this and went to protest, but Relena cut them off raising her left hand and continued, speaking very deliberately her eyes locking with Trieze's.

"It is a pity that no matter how much I advocate for disarmament, I am powerless to enforce it within my boarders until an official treaty can be devised with an alliance of nations willing to actively disarm themselves." She ate the last few bites of her meal and left the room.

Duo still confused was the first to speak.

"Wait… so… if she says no…?"

Mudo; elbow on the table leaning casually across his chair and boots propped up on the armrest of the empty chair next to him; gave the boy an innocent raised-brow look.

"No? I didn't hear a no…did you?" He held up a finger and bowed his head to the side. "I heard 'not until' that would be a 'yes'– with conditions."

Noin was finally smiling; Relena had figured a solution out all on her own. She kept forgetting how very capable the young girl was at ruling her own country.

"So, instead of taking the blame that Romefeller is trying to cast on the Sanc Kingdom; in calling out the contradiction of a Pacifist nation with an Elite Mobile Suit defense force; she intends to leverage the situation back against the foundation and use it to further insist that more countries openly embrace the Sanc Ideals. She really has a special gift when it comes to being a leader..."

She couldn't help giving the ex-Oz Commander at the other end of the table a brief dirty look, still upset over his 'mission'.

It drew Mudo's attention leading him to notice the quite bemused look on Trieze's face, as he was almost vacantly staring at the door where Relena had exited. Knowing the man for so many years, Nitro was a _little_ worried about what that implied. He shook the finger that was still raised, and his head, at Trieze.

"I am not liking what I am seeing… Trieze… Tell me? Does Milliardo know your hanging around his sister's Kingdom? Or should I have seen to informing him personally before I came?"

Pulled from his thoughts, Trieze realized he'd made a mistake by not paying more attention with someone that familiar with his ways in the room. He feigned innocence as best he could; well aware Nitro was referring to the years of fights he had broken up between the two childhood companions over the issues caused by (what Milliardo considered) Trieze's 'extreme' comfort with sexuality.

"I have no idea what Milliardo knows or does not right now, I have not had contact with him since before the Mobile Doll revolution." Tightening his jaw he added. "I do not know why Milliardo should have any reason to be concerned."

"I do…" Mudo muttered getting, and promptly ignoring, the hint. Far more in tune with the struggle in underbelly of the colonies he knew of a storm that was slowly starting to gather strength. It would be just like Milliardo to fulfill the very prophecy he had projected onto Nitro the first time the three of them met. "You had better not be planning an assisted suicide; you will be sorely disappointed when he has you put on permanent life support. You know he can afford it."

Unaware of the details of the persistent conflict that had been going on between Milliardo and Trieze since before the official outbreak of the war; the rest of the room was completely at a loss as to what concerns Mudo had about the situation. Quatre's extreme distaste for violence compelled him to try to sort out the riddle.

"Didn't Milliardo used to be the Ace Oz pilot Zechs Marquise? I suppose since he left Oz before the Trieze Faction split that you two weren't on good terms, but …what would enrage him so much about Trieze being here? So far he's acted only to help us protect Relena and even went to the Foundation Headquarters with Heero to rescue her."

Noin's expression soured, not about to hold back her criticism.

"I wouldn't speak too soon Quatre, maybe you don't understand the extent of Colonel Khushrenada's pragmatism. Whilst Heero engaged the defenses for Relena's escape, he used the cover to murder Chief Engineer Tuberov. Maybe Zechs is well aware of how integral manipulation is to His Excellency's character." This was the first time the Pilots had heard about this detail of Heero & Trieze's late night foray.

Mouth hanging open at the harsh attack, Nitro turned to assess the impact of these words on Trieze's face. The impersonal titles and excessive use of third person no doubt intended for insult. He hardly cared if what Noin said was true or not, since the Mobile Doll designer's death had no effect on the situation – the technology was already in widespread use.

Heero, Duo and Quatre were also regarding the man who was wearing a poker-face beatable only by the 01 and 03 Pilots themselves. Despite being fully aware of how thin the trust was that he had managed to gain from the Gundam team, for him, Royal Promises were not something to be broken.

"I am not at liberty to discuss the matter: its circumstances or motivations."

Unsettled by the response, Mudo came out of his casual pose and sat more seriously, regarding Trieze. He waited to see if there was even the slightest hint as to what the man was up to. There was definitely more to this matter and it started to genuinely worry him that such an indication was completely lacking from his friend's visage. Shaking his head, finally he decided to break the intense silence.

"Well if his Excellency isn't at liberty to discuss that, perhaps we should move on to the Oz advanced model Submarine I've worked so hard to secure? You are lucky they didn't have a chance to deploy their suites. We have decent complement of Cancer and Pisces units at our disposal. Also, exactly how do you expect to waltz into Luxemburg and pick up your new toys?"

"What do you think, Captain Yuy?" The added rank to Heero's name was no jest on Trieze's part, it was an official promotion.

The boy had lead a Faction unit into battle before going to the Sank Kingdom and now was the effective commander of the small troop that had converted into a defense force for the Kingdom. Considering the slant Noin had decided to put on his actions of the previous night, he wasn't sure if he still maintained a right to give out orders in the boy's mind.

"Quatre joining up with the Maganacs should cover that objective efficiently enough. Its likely retrieving my suit will lead to a significant encounter, we will need all the pilots we can spare. Trieze, you can take whatever roll in this you want since I don't know how much use you'd be in a Mobile Suit fight. Depending on how this all turns out we'll decide our next course of action." The comment on his piloting abilities certainly told Trieze where he stood.

"I am more then capable of using the Pieces and would be honored to have a chance to fight again," giving Noin a slightly dirty look of his own. "…Especially since I am no longer confined by the concerns of others."

Noin abruptly got up and left the table giving Trieze cause to sigh.

"And one other thing…" Mudo in a slow dramatic way; put a palm to his forehead before throwing his hands wide to reveal his staggered expression. "…WHY is it **magenta**?"

Trieze gave an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Check the specs: Demonic Pink."

Mudo's jaw dropped dumbfounded by the response and sarcastically retorted,

"How IS that better?"

((Chapter 6: By Land, follows Quatre, Sally and the Maganacs

Chapter 7: By Sea, follows Trieze and the rest in the intense underwater skirmish….. CH9 - 11 coming SOON!

They run concurrent (except for the Flashback at the end of CH5 of course) Get ready for some Mobile Suit action!... Also, please note that this is IN progress and I am not a professional writer, I'm probably not going to get around to polishing out all the little flaws until I get the damn story finished being writ' to begin with... SO! unless your gonna PM me and give me an exact map of all the spelling errors and such... just... wait. If it's still a mess when I put up the 'final' chapter and switch it to 'complete' THEN complain. I'm not kidding I'll appreciate the help at that point it then cuz thats all that will be left to do.

I'm not apologizing for OC's anymore, they should speak for themselves by now.))


	5. By Land! Down The Rabbit Hole

(

BUT, Have I mentioned that this entire AU was conceived EIGHT years ago and been simmering around my mind ever since? So while you may think things have been dramatic, tedious, but with a certain air of life that compels you to continue to read further… things are about to get way more intense and the gentle threads I've been weaving (SHOULD) take on a new dimension. I try to make a point of delivering what I promise. This is going to get a bit more 08th MS ground perspective style as the story continues along after Sanc Kingdom and before Trieze takes the political stage again… also going to start to take a look in later chapters at what Milliardo and Wu Fei have been doing in outer space as their fates start to get pulled towards the Sanc &/or Eve Battles…

…..Is this the Trieze Khushrenada from the series? OF course **not**, that's why you're reading _this_ and not watching _that_! He would have sat rotting in prison until someone came and rescued him, _that_ man is a political figure, _this_ man is a fighter. There will be no going peacefully into that eternal good night for Trieze Godrick Khushrenada the XIII.

I mean they split the character traits of Char into Zechs and Trieze anyways… what's wrong with bringing a little of that merge back? P.S: Original M.S.G. fans can go eat dirt! **It** might have come first, but obviously the writers figured out their mistakes and decided to make Gundam Wing BETTER. =P =P =P

BUT FIRST, Here's a last taste of good old Gundam Wing conventions before we really take the plunge… and who better to follow for that then Quatre keeper of the Soul of Outer-space and his (_very)_ personal guard!)

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><p><strong>The freedom of the Pure Minded… Raid on Oasis.<strong>

Quatre and Sally left the train station in the capital city of the Sanc Kingdom a few hours later heading east to rendezvous with Abdul, Auda, Ahmad and Rasheed.

Oasis was a Mobile Suit development base that was nestled in the mountain range that stretched between Turkey and Syria. It was protected on two sides by the tall mountain faces that rose up around it – along with the most fortified array anyone had ever seen of the latest Mobile Doll units. Quatre, Sally and the others were at a hidden camp high up on one of the near-by rocky mountain slopes huddled around the computer Quatre had brought along.

"Well it's a real tricky situation, but if any one can figure out the solution it's going to be you, Master Quatre." Auda was positively brimming with confidence in the young pilot.

Quatre couldn't help smiling at the warmth he felt from the positive energy the Maganacs always seemed to carry with them through thick and thin.

"It's Heero that figured it out, now its just a matter of seeing if it will be possible to upload the virus onto the Mobile Doll command network."

"A virus, eh?" Abdul was rubbing his chin. "So we're going to make 'em all sick?" Quatre laughed lightly.

"Sort of, Heero was able to isolate the emergency shut down command-sequence and format it with a self replicating code that should transmit it to all the other suits. There is just one problem…"

"And what would that be Master Quatre?" Rashid's low voice rumbled.

"Well… emergency shut down will happen on its own if there is threat of a core-breach in a doll, or if the inner command consul sustains damage that could effect the suits ability to properly communicate with the remote control center. We wouldn't need the virus at all if there was a way to get to that control center, but our best chance is going to be to mount one of the doll units and load the program directly into its on-board processor. From there it will cause an error to spread to all the other suits on its command network making them think that they are too damaged and will power down the reactor to save it for salvage."

Auda slapped his palm to his forehead,

"OH terrific! We just have to climb up a 7 ton automated death machine with all the other automated death machines shooting at us!" Quatre was shaking his head.

"It's going to take more then one… look here: the defense array is so heavy that there are FIVE command networks, the outer ring is split into two zones and then there are three more inner layers of Mobile Dolls protecting the development lab."

Abdul was trying to focus on the possibilities instead of the obstacles,

"The things are really slow to target humans though, if I remember you pretty much either have to be the only threat in the area or shoot at the things directly! So how are we going to keep them distracted while all this sneaking around his happening?"

"_We_ won't. If Major Sally wouldn't mind, each of you would be able to focus on infecting a network while Sandrock and I give them something to fire at. It really just wouldn't be wise to risk anyone else getting hurt, as much as we need to get this Gundam back it certainly isn't worth people dying for it."

"It sounds like a solid plan," Sally was smiling. "I wouldn't expect any less from a Gundam Pilot. Would you have climbing harnesses around the camp? It would be much easier to get up onto the Dolls if we had some sort of grappling system, especially since there won't be a cockpit platform once you reach the maintenance access."

Ahmad who had quietly disappeared returned just then to drop a pile of climbing equipment and grappling guns onto the ground next to her.

"You mean something like this?"

"Master Quatre, Are you really expecting us to let you go get SHOT at all by yourself!"

"Yes Auda, it will take a lot more to bring down Sandrock then one of your Titanium Alloy suits. I'm trusting that it isn't going to take anywhere near that long for you to complete your own missions. After that we need to take over the Mobile Doll control center and destroy the command consuls, it will just be a matter of getting the suits loaded up and back to the Sanc Kingdom."

They spent the rest of the afternoon going over the schematics of the Mobile Dolls, how to install the virus and collecting 5 tool kits for each of the runners. Abdul and Auda were going to be taking the two outer zones while Rashid, Ahmad and finally Sally would be taking the inner three.

They made an important modification to Heero's broadcast program so that the shut down would take place simultaneously in order to prevent the Mobile Doll controllers who would be monitoring the battle feed from catching on and some how figuring out a way to reactivate the dolls or worse, start targeting the totally defenseless would be hackers.

They set out for their raid at dusk.

((((OK! Greatest apologies… but this is taking TOO LONG to write, there are about 2-4000 words missing from this chapter for anyone keeping count… honestly it's mostly because nothing is actually going to go wrong with their plan… just… Sigh… not that exciting to me… SO! Since this section is actually independent of the rest and Ch6 &7… Um, I'm just going to guess people who have read this far will much rather get on with the Trieze then wait around for Quatre to be ridiculously lucky once again…. I will get this fixed and posted ASAP… I just can't keep people waiting for the rest WHICH IS SO FINALLY GOOD!))))

(See I spell his name right :-P I figured out how to make word check these things for me LoL)

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><p>(Continued from beginning section of Ch2! Just so you know, this is not Zero system, this is the pre-attempt. Zero comes later… Try saying "Z-P-El-C'es" if it's been bugging you…)<p>

The past… Z-PLCs …part2 'Down the rabbit hole – Self Detonation Initiation'

By the time the briefing was over Trieze was starting to wonder if he was going to get sick. There was no doubt that it was from whatever had been shot into his bloodstream as the other two test subjects didn't seem to be enjoying themselves either. Outside, one of them stopped by the leg of his Leo to empty the contains of his stomach with a few violent wretches before ascending the ripcord. Trieze doubted the test would reveal any improvements in piloting skills if the first step was to make all the pilots ill.

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath as he grasped hold of his own ripcord. Knowing he'd regret it more if the urge to vomit overwhelmed him in the cockpit he still restrained himself, he was still a Khushrenada. Even though his late father had been the first out of eight Godrick Trieze's to retired from service before attaining the rank of Colonel in order to give his full focus to investing in developing the space transport industry; his cousin, General Catalonia, was currently the leader of the Specials Mobile Suit division. Failure to live up to his family's hard won military tradition was never an option and doing something as _ungraceful_ as throwing up before engaging in a _simple_ test run was out of the question.

The rush of air through his short ginger hair as he ascended seemed to be all he needed to push past the momentary queasiness. He kicked lightly forwards and let go to land on the opened cockpit hatch. He dropped into the familiar lightly padded seat. It took him only a few moments to strap himself in and engage the system which was long past needing anything as low tech as MAG-keys to start up. The foot petals were released as the suit assumed its ready stance.

The observatory tower enabled the communications network between itself and the three suits. Trieze frowned as he noticed the inter-suit lines were shut down meaning the pilots would only be able to communicate to one another through the suit's outer COM-system. A familiar stream of data scrolled across the left and right view screens. Live fire exercises: clearance AlphaZ3-0FGx, objective: eliminate all targets on course ZedAlpha-929, rate: timed, efficiency percentiles record AA001… test clear to engage at mark NAV-16; adjust trajectory 297° delta mark NAV-22.

The 929 course was simple enough consisting of only a few remote tanks that would enter engagement in a staggered left then right side attacks. Their explosive rounds scaled back to prevent any real damage to the mobile suits. A set of accuracy targets were in place at the point of delta mark, upon completion they were to return to the start location, along the way having to deal with a few sets of mock-missiles to test reaction and mobility.

Trieze maneuvered his suit to rotate to check the progress of the other two pilots whom were just bringing their suits into ready stances as well. '_So far, so good.'_

"_Advance to mark NAV-16, we will be engaging the Z-PLCs shortly" _the intercom crackled.

The three suits moved out in standard grouping formation. There was a blip in the view screens and there was a flood of script appearing and disappearing across the screens all of the sudden.

An intense feeling washed over Trieze that he hardly felt possible to describe. He found himself breathing hard and using every ounce of concentration to continue maneuvering the suit forwards. What was going on? Was this another wave of side-effects from the drug or was THIS the system?

As _he_ stepped out past the other two stalled Leos, their pilots obviously having a great deal of difficulty as well, confusion began to flood through his head as the world was suddenly fine.

The sun was shining, in the distance birds were chirping territorially, the ground was – Suddenly there was something wrong about the thought and he couldn't bring himself to complete it. The ping rang in his ears of the notification dialog indicating that he had reached the mark NAV-16 and automatically initiated the signal to commence the first defensive tank strike.

As the first round of shells soared towards him, Trieze ducked low onto one knee to avoid them. It was at that moment he knew exactly what was wrong about the world being fine, the scale was all wrong!

He pulled his right hand from its control stick and stared at it, palm up, completely wide-eyed. A terrible sense of horror griped him as he suddenly realized, there on the view screen in front of him…was the outstretched articulated fingers of his Leo's hand mimicking his flesh. At that moment he certainly had a great deal of sympathy for Alice when she had first tumbled down the rabbit hole.

There was a renewed fury to the amount of text that was suddenly flashing by on the screens to either side of him as detailed statistical data flooded into his mind – and made sense. Trieze Khushrenada remembered who he was and threw his suit to the side, barely dodging the next barrage.

He released a stream of fire from the standard issue 105mm Rifle with expert precision as soon as he had recovered; destroying the deployed targets. Not wanting to waste any more time he pushed the giant mechanized suit into a full run, a difficult task normally with how much the balance had to shift off center in order to achieve the motion.

It was almost a thrill of utter freedom as he seamlessly blasted through the rest of the tanks sets.

It was gone in an instant when he took account of the other two Leo's on the training course. They were fighting each other! Even with full knowledge of the risks that were involved in approaching the two suits laden with live ammunition, Trieze couldn't restrain his natural protective instinct.

He quickly rushed the suit that was firing upon the other Leo, which had resorted to using its beam saber. It turned and tried to brace itself, but not in time to stop it being knocked completely over by the force of the impact.

Trieze certainly felt it strapped inside his cockpit, accidentally biting his own lip and drawing blood. Never the less, he drew his own beam saber and quickly removed both of the Leo's arms at the elbow joint to minimize detonation. He was just in time to rotate and catch the downward hack of the other Leo that had been behind him.

There was a flood of flashes all around him as he WILLED the other pilot to cease his deranged attack.

"DISENGAGE!" Trieze screamed over the external COM as the Leo continued to attempt to over power him, "CLEARANCE Lt. KHUSHRENADA, TRIEZE, 5-Gamma, Delta-OZ-68!" He easily bowled the Leo over a moment later when its systems powered down from the remote emergency deactivation sequence.

Both Pilots had to be restrained by several medical technicians as they continued to struggle and scream long after they'd been dragged from their cockpits. They were tied down to stretchers and tranquilized before being carried off the field.

Trieze stood, in his green Lt. Cadet jacket, transfixed watching the scene from the platform to his cockpit, wind tousling his now unruly ginger hair that fell across his brow.

He was very reluctant to actually leave the suit for ground level. Tubarov, with Doctor J trailing behind him, walked out to survey the wreckage up close. The two old men looked up at the seemingly unaffected Trieze.

"Figures." The Chief Engineer grunted in disappointment then turned on his heal and stalked off.

Trieze, eyes never leaving his receding back, reached up above him and used the ripcord to drop to the ground. Doctor J walked up to the young man holding out a mass-storage drive.

"If you'd like to keep it, I'm sure it won't be missed around here. Much of the effect will fade within a few days and the system should operate normally for you from now on. It will take some getting used to, but eventually you'll learn to live with your new perspective."

Trieze took hold of its cold hard surface.

* * *

><p>Z-PLCs …part3<p>

'About Honor and Loyalty among thieves… & Hope'

Mudo ducked down the hallway leading to his friend's quarters.

In no way was he allowed to be where he was right then. That was the fun of making a surprise visit to Trieze's room at the Lake Victoria base. There was only so much you could communicate with someone using encoded messages exchanged through an impossible maze of data servers. (or readers =P)

Having heard ahead of time about the Test Piloting run Trieze had been volunteered for, it seemed time for a personal visit. He quickly attached his hand held computer unit to the door-lock, which unlatched almost instantaneously. Not wanting to get caught in the exposed hallway, he darted inside.

Trieze's room was on one of the corners of the building with a fantastic view of both the airstrip as well as the basic mobility practice field. The curtains that were usually kept open wide, had all been drawn shut making the room dark. There was kitchen area to Nitro's left. Straight ahead, on the far side of the round table in the middle of the room that served as an overflow desk and dinning table – Trieze was sitting in a chair next to it staring vacantly at the curtain in front of him, his elbow on the table and head propped up by a finger. It was disturbing how still he was sitting.

"Trieze…?"

"Hello Mudo. Heading back up to space soon again I see." Mudo's blood chilled at the almost emotionless response. Trieze hadn't moved.

"I… might be? Aren't you…surprised?"

"No. Who else just comes into my room?" Hesitantly Nitro approached the man, half expecting to be ambushed by soldiers with guns,

"What's up then? What are you doing?" He peered at his friends face in the gloom.

Trieze continued to stare at the curtain, but waved his hand in a haphazard gesture towards a big thick book on the table before returning to his original position.

"…Reading War and Peace."

Mudo picked up the obviously labeled book on the table and looked from it, to his friend; thoroughly confused,

"Uhh… it's here… how –"

"I already looked through that, I am just seeing if it is really all there…" Mudo finally took a seat across from Trieze, his mouth hanging open. He knew Trieze liked the book, but this was just weird.

Finally Trieze turned and looked at Mudo before continuing in the same terrifyingly monotone voice. His eyes were completely blue with their irises almost nonexistent; something that should definitely not be the case with how little light there was in the room.

"I think I finally know what it is like for a person to experience LSD."

Mudo could only put a palm to his forehead giving his friend across the table a hopeless look,

"OH! Good! I was worried you up and went insane all by yourself! How did you…. Why did you…?" He gave up and finished with an exacerbated sigh. Trieze, still staring emotionlessly and steadily at Mudo, barely shook his head.

"No. Not that at all. Pre-conditioning for the new system, the Doctor sent me home with a copy since it will be discontinued. Said the effects would fade…eventually…but I should be able use it without any difficulty from now on."

Mudo was set back in his seat by this. A new system that needed Pre-conditioning that caused the pilot to go insane? Obviously it would be discontinued! (MSG cough Newtype cough) Still, it was a pointed reminder of all the reasons he loved his role working to defend the colonies he called home and pitied his friend trapped within the structures and stigmas of the conventional Earth Alliance Military. The young revolutionary was sure Trieze had NOT wanted to take the risk of being a guinea pig.

No matter the circumstances and even after everything Mudo had already willingly stepped up to support Trieze through; **this **was far over his own head.

Trieze looked back around at the curtain he'd been staring at.

"When I returned I figured I would do some reading to take my mind off of it all. I just started flipping through the pages, suddenly it was all here," Trieze touched an index finger lightly to his temple, his tone still dead. "All of it. Not just what happens – every word on every page and the exact position of each character of type-face…" Mudo searched for anything to throw into the conversation.

"Well… that sounds like it could come in handy… right?" He was almost regretting having come that day. Trieze frowned.

"If it takes too long to fade…can a mind run out of space? Is that what fate I have been doomed to?" Mudo tried to come up with a hopeful response,

"Computers can, but human beings are hardly machines and tend to push the limits of 'can' and 'cannot' to the extremes every day… though to lay off the reading for a while might not be a bad idea." Trieze was still stuck on his curtain.

"Its not just words, it is everything around me, every detail. If you ask how many ceiling panels there are on this whole floor… 10,368 not even an ounce of effort involved. To ignore it all… everything there is out here in this world… I find the best I can do is to try and stay focused on one very specific thing for now" He narrowed his eyes, "even then… the amount of information is… overwhelming."

"Does it hurt? Do you feel sick? Should I be getting help? Are you going to be able to stop scaring me this much?" His plaintive tone drew Trieze's gaze back to Mudo.

"I am sorry. It is going to take me a long time to get used to living in the world like this. You have done so much in the past, I am sorry I have to be the one to tell you: the friend you knew is dead."

Mudo bowed his head. Trieze's words filled him with anger and sorrow; it was as if what he said were true, even if the person **known** as Trieze Khushrenada was alive and breathing right there before him now.

"I should stay a while and pay my respects then, I'm sure my old friend won't mind…" It was a long night that passed with silence between the two, neither moving:

Trieze remained lost, still struggling to deal with the hyper-reality surrounding him. Nitro Mudo hardly cared about the hours of nothing that stretched on and on. Hope was something people were giving up, too easily, in those days. When it came to someone who'd been through so much with him as Trieze Khushreanda had, spending a night, sitting in a chair in utter silence, was a no price at all to keep the small flame burning.

He vowed to one day see his friend resurrected.


	6. By Sea! Blue Shepherd Rises

("Extras" are going to start getting names a bit more now, but doesn't mean I'm going be describing everything they do – this is Anime and they aren't really OC's so don't freak. Doesn't mean they are the "red shirt" like in Star Trek either, but I mean… If he remembers everyone's name… why shouldn't you?)

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><p>"…with a fancy gun that has long lost the meaning of battle; I would feel no emotion, even if I were to shoot an enemy through the heart. It's not that a pure person has no direction, it's that their mind is free…" ~ Trieze Khushrenada – 'I Want to be a Loser'<p>

(Swallowed by a whale…)

The Supersonic jet swooped lower and maintained a steady altitude just feet above the ocean waves. Duo knew exactly how to push the limits of speed to perfection.

The tethered Deathscythe Hell crouched on one knee in the cargo bay with one massive hand holding the staff of the upgraded double beam-scythe that lay beside it. The Gundam looked like a warrior bowing to the ground and praying for the souls it would soon reap. The extra meter and .4 tons coupled with the fact that it's Active Cloak had never been designed with intent for transport on an aerodynamically advanced model jet meant the Taurus suits (which were also larger and heavier then the standard Leo or compactable Aries) had to be left behind. They wouldn't be needed anyways.

Only one of the Faction pilots in the Sanc Kingdom was familiar with using the aquatic cancer units, Sergeant Larry Dobson. Luckily, two of the men who accompanied Nitro Mudo on his sorties had grown up together working with the mechanical units that were used to construct the colonies. They had easily taken affinity for the leg-less red crabs with their grappling hooks and cutting laser accessories. The two, Thomas and Shinn, were already on the Submersible whose location they were fast approaching 1000 km off the Spanish Canary Islands.

Knowing that the Romefeller search party was in the area, they couldn't risk docking the plane with the underwater transport that they needed to recover the sunken suit. Heero was strapping down the last supply bags they would need onto the reinforced speed boat in the back of the bay that was waiting with it's prow against the deactivated launch guide.

Noin, Trieze and Mudo came back from the cockpit to join him.

Noin had wanted to make sure that Duo knew EXACTLY what he was doing. She was never one to back down from the edge. However, dropping out of the back of a Supersonic jet into the ocean on something that seemed more and more like a raft – begged the question of how good an idea it was to use a Gundam Pilot's methodology to get around.

Sgt. Dobson, already sitting very still in the exact center of the boat, certainly looked like he was having similar thoughts on the matter. But, it would be impossible to parachute without being a high enough altitude to be spotted by enemy radar or, if they dropped from higher, left drifting down so long it would be impossible to keep a tight grouping to be easily scooped up by the large submarine.

Noin climbed into the prow in order to balance the weight of the craft while it was airborne. She could only shake her head at the complete nonchalant manner of Mudo and Trieze as they calmly took up positions crouching low on opposite sides of Dobson.

Trieze looked like a stranger to her as they prepared for the moment that Duo would slow the plane as much as the laws of physics would allow and 'gently' **dump** the boat out the back. Trieze, uncharacteristically, was wearing a tight black tee-shirt, dark green military issue pants and a khaki water-tight backpack. It was a relic from his ground training at the Alliance Academy; each of its sides still emblazoned with A.M.S.I.A. and TGK13 stenciled on the back.

Mudo retained his uniform but had tied his long hair back for this little adventure and dawned goggles similar to the ones Noin herself was wearing.

Noin, in her typical casual apparel and foul-weather white jacket, wasn't sure if it was the heavy duty (steel-toed) black boots instead of the tall elegant cavalry convention; or if it was how much doubt had grown in her mind as to whether or not she really knew the man to begin with. Had something changed about the man whom she had put her complete trust in for so long? Or had it all been some performance put on for the sake of manipulating those around him? It didn't help that last she knew Zechs' opinion; it leaned heavily towards the latter.

She'd noticed Mudo kept looking at a thick, still-red-scar that cut diagonally across Trieze's bicep, disappeared under the black cloth of his shirt sleeve and then reappeared from his shoulder to snake around the back of his neck. It was indeed a poignant reminder of how much had happened since Operation Daybreak, the height of his influence.

"_Hey, Death Angel here! We're coming up to the target fast! Hold on tight back there… I'm going to try and set you down right on top of 'em!"_

Duo's voice chirped a _little too_ excitedly over the radio as the back cargo-door dropped open: filling the bay with the roaring rush of wind. For the first time they felt and tasted the spray from the surface of the water being violently wedged apart from the sheer force of the speed the aircraft traveling above it. Heero finally satisfied with preparations, grabbed hold of a strap he'd attached, and sitting, braced his back against the wheel mount. The sound of the engines dying reflexively caused them all to duck lower and hold on tighter to their respective hand holds knowing the moment was about to come.

There was an incredible force of G's as Duo slammed the front Aux Launch Thrusters (designed to allow vertical take-off) to point forward for a split second, before firing the aft Aux. Thrusters. **They **were pre-set at an angle that allowed the plane to cradle the boat as the main boosters of the Supersonic Jet sent it rocketing upwards at an extreme angle to get above the radar ceiling.

The maneuver caused the aircraft to virtually disappear from around the boat.

This did not change the fact that, the small boat's relative speed to the water beneath it was enough to cause it to plow across the surface and skip like a stone expertly thrown by an enormous giant. Each time it slammed down, throwing massive curtains of water spraying out on all sides, the occupants were nearly dislodged from the craft.

Noin had gotten thrown towards the back by the initial impact and opened her eyes to discover it was Mudo, and not Trieze, who had grabbed hold of her waist and was now clutching her tightly on top of himself – firmly wedged between the wall and the wheel well. Despite the shuttering blows of each touchdown; Trieze still managed to give him a glare as he himself kept Dobson pinned to the deck.

7 or 8 skips later; the entire craft and occupants soak and its structural integrity in a questionable state; the boat finally had lost enough momentum for the waves to catch it and guide it to slower speed. Heero was up on his feet and starting the engines despite the toss of the open ocean swells.

"Looks like we're right on target." He said as the sea began to boil around them.

The submersible was surfacing directly under the small craft and Heero used the thrust of the engines to allow the boat to settle onto the middle of the deck while the ocean pealed away beneath them.

Once the deck had cleared of water there was the screech of metal as someone inside the Sub opened the topside hatch. As they climbed out of the smaller vessel it was a little surprising to see a brown haired teenage girl, probably about the same age as Heero and wearing a black uniform, pop out of the hatch and bounce over to pull a salute to Mudo,

"Death Angel already confirms: Enemy forces have taken anchor. It seems like they're still assessing the area but will be commencing diving activities shortly. It doesn't seem they have any underwater carriers in the area, just the ships."

Several other men in uniform emerged from the hatch and made quick work of detaching the baggage and carrying it down inside the Sub.

Trieze smirked as he ran his hands through his hair to force out the excess water,

"Fools probably stopped making them with all the Space Delivery Air-carriers they need now." Heero walked past carrying two of the bags himself.

"We should hurry. Duo isn't very good at waiting around once he's found a target."

Noin was happy to follow his lead, still underneath the influence of the exhilarating thrill.

By the time they reached the Starboard Mobile Suit launch hanger containing the Pieces units and piled their things into a storage room off the pilot's quarters to be sorted through later, the submersible was already at depth and heading full speed for the site of the underwater excavation.

Trieze had made of a point of ensuring that these Subs had finished being developed in the past two years he'd been in power. There was such an obvious flaw in the strategy of launching the main force of underwater MS units from a surface vessel during a ship-to-ship engagement, as was the previous convention. He was sure Duo's "Deathscythe Hell" would be teaching them that lesson soon enough.

Noin was surprised at how quickly Trieze went to work, almost mimicking the younger Gundam pilot as he performed the ground checks for his suit for deployment, then broke out a portable computer from the water-tight bag he had with him.

Done with her own inspection and having removed her outer water proof garments, Noin figured if she ever wanted a chance to have a word with him; now would be the only time. Noin climbed up the horizontally stored suit and pulled her goggles off just as Trieze was opening up the consul for the main data control unit behind the seat back he was kneeling on.

"Trieze…"

She paused, waiting for his attention: Unknowing of how much effort it took Trieze to consciously block out every detail that made up his surroundings.

He glanced quickly up at her above him, as he removed a pair of thin blue tinted glasses from a hard-shell case and attached a filament-like expandable extension chord to the side of the frames. As he continued his work; detaching from the laptop the large Mobile Suite processor card that served as an on-board computer in his HVG he inserted the other end of the thin chord into it; Noin decided that was as much notice as she was going to get from the man.

"Trieze, I just want you to know…" That made him pause as he slid on the thin glasses. "…I really hope you make sure to look after yourself out there. I know how much you love to be the one that comes to the rescue…" He resisted the urge to sigh heavily and inserted the data card. "…this isn't the time to get your-self killed because of a bad habit. _This_ deep, a cockpit rupture is as deadly as it would be in space."

He finished adjusting the rest of the Processor Card's settings and linked it with the aquatic units' data and mobility drives. It took a matter of seconds to finish and do complete systems check now that the glasses were set up to interface properly.

"Lt Noin…" He said, taking off the lenses and hoisting himself out of the cockpit to gather his things back into the bag – specifically designed to strap into the storage space under a pilot seat. "Maybe you should heed your own advice so my bad habits are not needed." He stowed the bag and brushed by her to go get an update on the field they would be engaging in.

* * *

><p>(Blue Shepherd rises again!)<p>

Nitro Mudo flashed on screen as he was commanding the bridge of the Submersible for the engagement.

He was leaning casually with one arm on the control consul with the statistical files for the six suits that were about to be deployed listed on the large screen with a icon of their suit's reported status displaying as default while the pilots had their own visual broadcast channels closed. The radar map was to his left and a few other militia soldiers were manning the various stations around the bridge.

"I'm only going to apologize for this once, I can not risk the entire crew for this engagement so you're going to have to cover yourselves and get out of the fight quick if things get heavy. If our analyses of the enemy's defenses are correct, they shouldn't even know you're here. I know you won't disappoint your Princess." He tapped a few buttons and uploaded the most recent sounding logs of the area to the 6 suits with a superimposed map of the general lay out of enemy units both above and below the surface.

Then continued,

"Shinn, Thomas… You both better play it cool on this one; it's not a raid so you won't be able to draw them out. Captain Yuy, I'll let you take over assigning formations since this is **your** mission; we're just here for support. I'll try and feed you all the data I can on the progress on the surface… Trieze – don't steal all the attention."

There was a wide grin on Nitro's face as he cut the transmission line and gestured for the crew to initiate the launch sequence for twin Mobile Suit bays.

…_Some MS pilots argued that fighting underwater was a far more unnerving experience then in outer space_…

_In space, sound doesn't carry and the sensory deprivation allows one to have a calmer mind to react to the changes of combat. Underwater, there is the constant whooshing of propellers, the resounding pulses of explosions and the intense disorientation that comes from being a giant metal coffin suspended in a vast ocean of water._

_It was true that the hard plastic and metal interior filled with buttons and control knobs wasn't exactly an environment to put a human being at ease; one was inside a weapon. Death was part of what one signed up for engaging in a Mobile Suit battle._

For Trieze Khushrenada, son of Sir Godrick Khushrenada, that contract seemed far more akin to the same lease every mortal creature signed on their own bodies. The rumbling feeling of the ballast water flooding into the bay to submerge the face-up Pieces: filled him with exhilaration closer to pure ecstasy then utter doom.

With his immediate environment a stagnate grid onto which data conveniently displayed itself, the Z-PLCs lenses augmenting his front and side visual displays with intensely detailed statistical information about every aspect of the world around him – the cockpit of a Mobile Suit was the only place he felt whole again.

His mind was freed from it's analytical restraints to simply EXPERIENCE the world around him and FEEL the emotions that typically were drowned out in the chaos… no, not drowned… beached and waiting for the waters of his mind to envelope them once more.

The last of the air expelled from the massive tubes, there was a deep percussion as the front doors unlatched and swung open to allow launch. Trieze's Pieces was the furthest in the back and waiting for the other two suits to clear the bay he felt like an otter lounging on it's back. Detecting Noin had cleared the opening, he activated the thrusters and kicked the props in gear to go join the other five Mobile Suits already forming up outside.

Heero had left the bay first and immediately flipped and dropped depth to floor level with the three Cancers and Noin following his path. Heero shifted the Pieces so he could stand anchored to the sea floor. Noin hovered with the three Cancers. Trieze smoothly cruised over, not bothering to right the orientation until the last minute when he twisted the suit and shifted it into leg mode; effectively causing it to do a flip and land with a puff of silt on all fours with the massive too-long prop-ended arms firmly planted.

"Shinn, Thomas… I'm assuming you can handle yourselves pretty well; we should take point. The objective will be to rush the field to eliminate the Pieces guard. The less they have to fire at us the better. It will be important to scatter the lighter armed Cancers to prevent them forming a defensive stance. Noin,"

Heero continued; blatantly denying Trieze leadership rights, "Move in behind us and make sure they don't have a chance to recover. Romefeller hasn't adapted an AI for underwater use. Just because the enemy is human doesn't mean we can afford to show any mercy."

"Roger, Red One." Noin confirmed.

As much as she knew the last line was for her sake and tended to cringe at such special treatment; Heero was right, she was trying to think of how they could handle prisoners if they forced surrender. The New Oz, however, was drained of pilots with any good sense when it came to fighting. Those with it, had thrown their support in with the Trieze Faction and she doubted whom ever they faced would see cause to stop fighting and cooperate.

They moved out in two groups of three: Shinn and Thomas acting as Heero's artillery wingman support heading at a cautious approach speed with Noin and Trieze trailing behind wide of the front line sticking low to the bottom. Trieze preferring to use the arms to propel his suit across the alien terrain then painstakingly navigating up and down like a slow low flying plane as Noin was doing. Poor Dobson was feeling more then a little nervous once again at the rear with the rest of the team out of sight around him.

Nine Cancer units had been deployed with three Pieces to prepare the sunken Wing Gundam – One of them had just returned to the surface to guide the tow cables down when the attack began.

Two of the legged and more trigger happy Pieces units that had formed a defensive triangle, standing on the rocky rises that surrounded the field, were violently knocked from their perches before being wrenched back into the murk by Shinn and Thomas' grappling hooks. The enemy suits didn't have a chance to defend against the high intensity cutting lasers that split through them with ease the moment they came within range.

The first Cancer to drop and attempt to get weapons lock on whatever had just caused the two suits to disappear was impaled by the claw of one of Heero's manipulator arms as he appeared from behind the rise. As the rest of the group panicked and tried to fall into a defensive pattern their communication attempts yielded little more then echoes of static.

The roar of combat was engulfing the surface as the God of Death brought Justice to the fleet that dared to disturb the rest of the 01.

Heero sent four rockets into the group strategically aimed to keep the red Cancers from locking into formation. Two getting direct hits that Shinn and Thomas quickly finished, each firing a torpedo of their own as it was important to be sparing with the few explosive projectiles the crabs had. Heero morphed the suit for maximum speed and dove straight for the center of the enemy cluster. They (thinking him an idiot) all targeted his charging suit just as the incoming target lock alarms flared as Trieze & Noin's bombardment of torpedoes rushed in from the sides: two for each attempting to make a stand.

There was a total loss of visibility as the water was churned by the exploding charges. Two of the enemies had managed to wriggle away from getting hit directly and a third was left critical with only a matter of time before the reactor breeched and the suit would be torn apart by its own power source.

As Trieze and Noin moved to tighten the field's parameter, Thomas neatly burned out the cockpit of the damaged suit to end the doomed pilot's wait. He then darted low as Shinn went high to prevent the fleeing suits from being able to combine their firepower on a single target.

Unfortunately, the pilot of the third Pieces also wasn't an idiot and leapt up from behind the sleeping Gundam where he'd taken cover to promptly dive its claws deep into the armored vessels abdomen and rupturing the power core.

The sudden static from his friend's COM-line followed by the resounding _Boom_ caused Shinn to stop completely and turn in shock. It was a bad mistake as the cancer units he was now alone in pursuing were then behind him and latched their grappling hooks into his suit to attempt to wrench him in laser range.

Trieze had seen a catastrophe coming as soon as the suit had been lost off the radar was ready to charge. He unleashed the remaining eight torpedoes on the enemy Pieces when it was only a few hundred yards from him to use their combined explosive pulse to send his suit rocketing through Shinn's path, cutting the grappling wires.

Dobson seized his moment and fired all four of his own suits torpedoes; Two taking out the closer enemy Cancer but the other two were evaded by the last crab unit.

Noin pounced on the still moving remains of the Pieces Suit and wrenched it apart with a disgusted sigh. Heero saw to it that the final cancer unit didn't escape; manually setting varied flight trajectories that caused his four-torpedo barrage to hit the enemy on all sides, ensuring destruction before he turned to regard the 01.

With the last enemy destroyed Shinn dove down to collect a piece of what he could only assume was his friend's suit.

By the time Noin saw the hazy red form emerge from the murk just behind Trieze, still suspended above and away from the rest of the group; it was too late to actually do anything.

"TRIEZE!" She shrieked over the COM.

Time almost seemed to slow to a near stop as he just stood there, looking AT her, making no move to acknowledge the death that was about to take him. The enemy Cancer that had retreated from the surface hoping for a chance to regroup with its comrades had just confirmed that none remained near the sea floor.

He was about to slice cleanly through the seemingly unaware Pieces – When Deathscythe Hell finally caught up to its prey and neatly cleaved it in two.

Trieze appeared in the corner of Noin's screen attempting to keep the smug feeling off of his visage.

"Lu… what did I tell you?" He cut the transmission to leave her alone with the humiliation that surly had just turned her whole face red.

"Alright, let's clear out of here. Mission Accomplished." Heero announced: he had done something to the 01.

Duo appeared on group VID-screen.

"Hey, wait a minute, Heero! What about this thing!"

As if in conscious response, the 01 began to emit its detonation warning.

"Without the jet carrier I'm sure you've destroyed, we are going to be slowed down enough towing your Gundam. I doubt the Sanc Kingdom needs anything as out-of-date as this. Romefeller won't have its symbol to parade around like they did with yours."

Mimicking the surety of when Trieze had ordered the retreat to the Sanc Kingdom after Relena's kidnap, Heero morphed his suit and headed off full speed to clear the area. The others had no choice to follow. Duo still ranting over the voice line at Heero, since the 01-pilot (_former_ 01-pilot, as the explosion rocked the sea floor) was incapable of closing it remotely with the Upgraded-02's transmitter under the Active Cloak field's protection.

Trieze, remembering the uncharacteristic laugh when Duo had brought up Heero's attempt to destroy his Gundam after a previous recovery operation, was the only one with the perspective and peace of mind to finally understand what Heero had found so funny. (To himself)

'_He planned this from the start, that's why he let Noin and Sally Po search so long when he knew exactly where it was._'

Trieze had to lock his COM-lines closed as he began to laugh so hard tears squeezed out his eyes. It had been almost a year that he had been watching and calculating these Gundam Pilots and yet Heero Yuy, the one and only, **still** floored him with the amazingly through directness he applied to **every** situation: Predictable to the point of total Unpredictability. A normal person just wouldn't DO those things, no matter how much they made sense! Truly his own expression of mirth now was more a last deep breath of freedom he gained from his little gray box. (Blue Box ^_^ SIDRAT ^_~)

Now was when the dread came for Trieze Khushrenada – as the submersible reappeared out of the oceanic darkness. Soon he would be inside the bay, the water would recede around him and he would have to get out.

He couldn't deny the salty crusts that had formed over his hair, skin and cloths from the boat-dive before were not at all comfortable, but even still he was tempted to just… stay.

Trieze lay there waiting till the water had been fully drained and the all clear alarm rang before he finally unbuckled and turned over to kneel on his seatback. Uninstalling the Z-PLCs processor card and packing it away before finally opening the hatch and getting out.

He kept the glasses on and touched a button that darkened their blue tints more and gave them an outer reflective sheen knowing it would take a while for his eyes to slip back to their normal state after engaging in such a skirmish.

* * *

><p>(Belly of the Beast…)<p>

Nitroglycerin was sitting at the desk that featured the center section of the captain's quarters with sleeping arrangements to his left and a larger then usual bathroom to his right. He was busy logging current information and processing paperwork that would initiate the next stages of his crew's never ending mission. Despite the grim work he couldn't help the wide smile that cracked across his features when Trieze entered unannounced carrying his pack.

"Now who's starting the habit of entering whose quarters unbidden?" Nitro glanced up at the harsh florescent tubes; he reached over and dimmed the lights for his old-new friend.

"Thanks." Trieze said removing the glasses and; setting the bag down on the dresser by the bathroom door; pulled out a towel and tossed it on the floor by the only bathtub on the vessel. He proceeded to remove his boots and socks.

Mudo couldn't help chuckling as he reviewed his paperwork,

"Showers still give you headaches, huh? I figured you would show up here…"

"…still too many targets." He stripped off his black t-shirt and stepped into the bathroom.

"Whoa – Come back here tiger-stripe." Trieze stepped backwards and looked at his friend confused.

Mudo walked over to him and started to inspect and turn him around; looking at the complete network of scars as if it was a work of art. He stopped and leaned to one side examining the warped area of skin that had been an especially curtailing burn.

There was only one word to describe it all and Nitro Mudo used it now.

((It's like the _duck_ itself: all soft and downy with pointy head and feet… not the annoying _q_u_ack_ing sound it makes – looking at you Mass!))

Trieze shying from the attention gently guided his friend to take a step back and give him his space.

"I got delirious pretty quickly," He went and started the water flowing. Mudo remembered who he was dealing with after spotting the still constricted irises and retreated back to the Captain's desk. The room was sound proof to the outside but the acoustics excellent inside; Trieze had modified the specs for this room's design before it was put into production after all, "I don't even remember anything. How I got out, where I was kept…" Trieze had removed the rest of his cloths and slipped into the still filling tub.

"YOU don't remember? Gods Trieze…"

"…waking up was amazing." Trieze was lost in the feeling of the rushing water that brought his mind back to the Pieces waiting to launch.

Mudo didn't know what to do with his strange perspective on the matter and went back to his paperwork shaking his head in disbelief. The tub was done filling and shut itself off automatically.

"Noin."

Mudo looked up and over at Trieze with a frown. A moment later there was a knock on the door.

"That's just creepy. Don't do it again."

Trieze, facing away from him, could only grin, his eyes closed and still lost in the thrill of reliving his first good fight in two years.

Nitro Mudo crossed to the doorway and hit the open button. It was Noin. She was carrying what looked like one of the digital tablets his men used to record and deliver reports. Obviously she had gone to check the bridge first.

"Lt. Noin isn't it? I've heard a great deal about you, can I help with anything?" Nitro bowed in a gesture for her to enter at will.

"I had been looking for the Colonel but when I was up at the bridge they asked me to bring this down for them." Noin stepped in as Mudo took the report and followed him as he went to sit at his desk once more.

"Well if you WERE looking for him – I suppose I'm glad you were so kind as to oblige my crew and stop by. I know when they're dealing with outsiders they tend to get a bit feisty."

Noin laughed lightly,

"It's no problem at all," she finally had a moment to glance around at the strangely dim lighting for paperwork and took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm sorry about your Pilot, Thomas wasn't it?"

Mudo imminently stopped looking the report over and put it aside to give her his full attention.

"Miss Noin. Shinn and Thomas were accompanying you on MY behalf. The fact that you got the mission accomplished and back here alive is plenty thanks for our efforts. I do not need apologies on top of that, I'm sure even Thomas would agree it was just a badly timed tactical error."

Noin did seem to relax a bit at that,

"That's funny… I'm sure Trieze would have said the same thing…"

Mudo resisted the urge to look at the open door to the darkened bathroom where Trieze was still enjoying his quiet time.

"Well, I thought it would be appropriate to invite the two of you to join us in the main mess hall. Its customary for us to have a show of support for those who continue fighting" He looked crestfallen as he added, "Shinn will probably be feeling this pretty hard for some time. He's already warned me that he might decide to return home for what little peace is left there. I'm hoping he will change his mind, it's always worse to lose two pilots instead of one."

"If they were friends a long time I could certainly understand his feelings. We've seen it plenty in Oz. Tell me though, you seem to have known Trieze very well for some time yourself – Does it seem normal for him to go out of his way to risk his life? I'm starting to worry he's given up. From the instructor I first went into space with, to the Oz high commander, he always seemed to have more SENSE then to gamble with any human's life."

Mudo leaned to peer around her to give the back of Trieze's head a glare.

"_Given up_? Trieze, what the hell kind of stunt did you pull out there to scare the poor woman?" Noin turned, startled, and finally noticed Trieze lounging in the hot water.

"I saved Shinn."

Mudo retracted his glare and frowned at Noin instead.

"Didn't you say he was your instructor?" he was confirming this more for his own sake, "Even I know that's pretty normal for him. Now, maybe you should go take a shower yourself? We will expect to see you in an hour or so, right?" Nitro shuffled the slightly bewildered Noin out of the room with a lewd wink sure to distract her from the oddities at work with the situation: Ex-Oz Colonel taking a bath, in the dark, in the quarters of an infamous (and dashing) colonist resistance fighter.

((Fan fic-fanfiction? Cuz I'll never write that…))

After the door closed Mudo walked over to stand braced in the bathroom door.

"That was THE cadet _AND_ is **also **the Lt. Noin? Milliardo's Noin? I'm right aren't I?"

"Yes…" Trieze said with a defeated sigh.

Mudo let out a groan and turned to one side to lean against the frame – face buried against his supporting arm.

If the two titans came to blows over even the slightest thing, with such an era of turmoil gripping the entire earth sphere, it wouldn't take long before every living soul would be wrapped up in the pursuing conflict. If he'd learned anything about the almost-yin-yang-brothers he'd befriended so long ago, it was that they BOTH possessed more then enough power of will to pull it off.

"You are an un-savable son of a bitch! _**I**_ thought Milliardo already found _every _reason there was to hate you. No …he's still missing one… at least." Trieze had craned his head all the way back to look at him and Mudo gave him a suggestive glare inviting him to feel free to elaborate on his own list of sins at any time,

"As I was _saying_, you should come down later. You _were_ there and, while Oz has never been an admired name among us, you **did** gain a respectable infamy leading the Pilot Rebellion. The gesture would certainly mean a lot." Mudo returned to his desk before continuing, "_I'm_ far better at sneaking around with crazy fools looking for a fight… not so much with convincing people to be bloodthirsty soldiers."

"Do you hold Milliardo's recent course of actions against me?"

Trieze always found it best to cut to the quick when Nitro was perturbed; the man didn't wear his Gundamium Katana at all times just for show and was never one to act 'with reserve'.

Mudo was already preparing to go make a sweep of the ship and couldn't lie,

"Yes. I was there when YOU started it, after all."

"Do you have a pair of Calvary boots lying around?" Mudo could only roll his eyes at his friend's strange tastes.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you like the damn things so much?"

Trieze dunked his head underwater and ran his hands vigorously through his hair to dislodge the salt. It was starting to get much longer then it should be, he could almost gather enough in the back to get a band around it.

"Leo."

Was all he said when he resurfaced, Mudo gave up.

"Just check the closet and hope your feet haven't grown."

He left Trieze to finish simmering in his tub of guilt.

* * *

><p>(Salute to the dead…)<p>

When Colonel Trieze Khushrenada entered the mess hall and descended the steps in full Oz uniform only Sgt. Dobson and Lt. Noin reflexively came to attention and pulled a salute. The rest of the nearly hundred present, all colonial loyal, respectfully gave way to him as he crossed to where Nitroglycerin was standing by Shinn.

Trieze stopped only two or so feet away from the younger colonist pilot who was maintaining a steely expression.

"Colonel Khushrenada of Oz, I will forever be indebted to you for having saved my life when I was distracted on the battle field." He sounded ashamed to say it.

"It is a distraction worth having. If we all were fighting for ourselves there would be no point to any of it. You two, Shinn Aznick and Thomas Hershorn, have served as truly gifted pilots. It was an honor to have accompanied you into the field. Thomas is the one that got you where you are now, it hardly matters my one act against the thousands over the lifetime you two shared. If you must pay a debt to me, then I would have you do it by using every day hence to ensure that the legacy you created together _never_ fades. It is a tall order for one person… but you are a colonist."

Trieze's words weaved a tangible spell over the room and their effect on Shinn at ground zero was most profound.

Shinn looked up at Heero and Duo, then back at the blue uniformed man in front of him. He raised his hand and stiffened into a salute. It triggered the same response being copied by the rest of the Colonial Militia in the room.

Trieze returned the gesture; the falling of his hand releasing the rest of the room from their stance.

"I'll do it. I'll stay." A cheer erupted from the crowd in the room at Shinn's new found resolve.

As if on cue the kitchen crew entered with a few large kegs of German import beer – another cheer!

Noin made her way over to Trieze who was shaking hands and talking with a group of the militia that had gravitated around the charismatic powerhouse. Duo was trailing behind her.

This was the Trieze Khushrenada she recognized: Easily sweeping a room of negativity, inspiring loyalty and purpose in everyone he came in contact with. It was like a magic aura surrounding him that filled those he touched with new-found life.

Even if the young Princesses' response had been shocking to the entire assembly – Relena too had been affected by it when Noin had taken her to the Romefeller dinner party. It was one of the reasons Noin had risked the chance to let the girl stand in the crowd and feel the same way that he made her feel. She was sure more then a few colonists in the room would be telling family and friends for years: I shook his _hand_ and he knew _my_ name.

Noin caught Trieze's eye when she reached the edge of the pack and he immediately made way for her to come beside him. By now he had settled himself down on one of the bench like tables using the similarly bench like seating as a footrest.

Shinn was between Mudo and him; the two leaders matching white-breasted uniforms making them seem like his personal guard: one of space Infantry, one of earth Calvary. (…think, who is missing from the court of the _crimson king_…? ^-~)

Noin didn't quite know what to say but Duo, always willing to express himself, summed it up neatly.

"I don't get it. You… YOU, walk into a room of 100 colonists, say a few words and suddenly _everyone _wants to be your friend? It's like the worst bar joke ever! It's no wonder we went home and all we heard was 'Glory to Oz!'…and all the damn resources too!"

Trieze's expression saddened.

"Duo Maxwell, I am sorry about that but it was your own fault for continuing to fight so openly after everything else I tried to throw at you. I lost the faith to direct such decisions and we can all see where that ended up leading…"

"OH! Sure, it's everyone _else's_ fault. That makes perfect sense! And people wonder why this era of war has gone crazy…"

The brown haired girl from when they first landed burst through the crowd carrying a tray with 5 metal mugs full of foamy brew and presented it to the guests of honor. Noin took hers hesitantly, not one to drink much. Duo looked suspicious of the stuff but with no one of a mind to tell a Gundam Pilot no, he figured – why not? Shinn was at least grateful that he wouldn't have to wait in line at this particular gathering.

Trieze stood up however and gave the girl a gracious nod taking his own; Mudo following suit they held their mugs even against one another at chest level.

"For Captain's Quarters?" Trieze asked with an elegantly raised eyebrow.

"Loss means crew bunks then! I shall not grant you the honor of officer's quarters after trying to usurp me of my bed when you already were granted them!"

Trieze chuckled at Mudo's feign of his own staunch aristocratic airs.

"So be it."

Whether it was force of will on Mudo's part to remain settled where he was and keep face with his men, or Trieze being too slow to flip the cup over before slamming it to the table; there was another cheer from the crowd along with a chores of heckling when Trieze was second to tap down.

Trieze looked at Duo sheepishly.

"I get the top."

Duo just broke out laughing and went off to find some fans to enthrall with his stories of his expedition of destruction to Earth.

* * *

><p>Late that night Heero went to the computer station on the uppermost catwalk of the MS bay. He had set a digital trap to force upload from all six suits upon their re-entry.<p>

As he reviewed the MS log data, it was clear even without the records from Thomas' destroyed Cancer that something was definitely wrong.

The log from the Pieces Trieze had piloted was flooded with over 100,000 times the number of calculations possible for a pilot to perform during such a focused engagement. All of it outlining a too-perfect too-consistent pattern of objective optimization for every action.

Even though there was nothing out of the ordinary with the systems and processors now, the logs had clearly been wiped clean before the suit was shut down, _something_ had been installed and then removed seamlessly with only the time captured copy of the log to give its existence away.

The puzzling factor was that it just wasn't consistent with the results from the Zero system, it was too simple.

Heero focused in on a set of algorithms that had been repeated, almost as if a mistake had been made the first time, and isolated their timestamp attachments. It was from the moment just before and just after the third Pieces had broken hiding to attack Thomas' suit.

The evidence was clear that it could not be the predictive modeling structure of the Zero System. Whatever _this_ system was that Trieze was using to perform these analyses, it was 100% reactive and still far beyond the capabilities of even the most advanced Artificial Intelligence program.

The actual pilot's reaction time was equivalent to Zech's Ace-skill levels. The difference lay **only** in that Heero's persistent rival was driven by his experienced instinct, where as it seemed Trieze could do away with doubt all together and SEE the actions that should be taken to rectify the immediate situation based on **all** available information.

Even Heero Yuy felt a chill run down his spin as something Dr J had said to him echoed through his head.

'_Watch out for that rascal in Oz – An enemy that __**calculated**__ is hardly a human being anymore."_

Heero saved the data to disk and hid it on his person (GKHow, GKWhere) and wiped the record clean. As he walked back down towards the ladder to return to his bed, the blue LED light next to hatch of Trieze's Pieces caught his eye. It indicated the interior consul had been switched on.

Now, as he stood above it in the dim red emergency lighting that filled the huge bay, he could see inside the cockpit: Trieze sleeping deeply in the pilot's chair, with his arms crossed over his chest and a blanket wrapped around him, no boots, and blue Uniform jacket folded as a pillow under his head.

'_Not a human being anymore_.'

The four, plus Dobson and Shinn, had been assigned the adjacent Pilot's quarter's.

Heero was the only one to notice when Trieze silently slunk back to the bunk above Duo's, and across from his own, hours later – just before Noin stirred and got up in search of her morning coffee.

He could swear the man had looked right at him before settling down facing the opposite wall:

Two solid-blue orbs that almost seemed to glow of their own light in the nearly completely black room.

(AHHH! Creepy – huh? The darkness is coming to consume allllll!)


	7. Ch9 A! Enter Wu Fei! By The Space!

Ch9 PART ONE! –

**By the Space! Enter Wu Fei!**

(Booted ch1 back to the TPoYI… so I'm splitting this so I can keep the numbers where they were . I know… OCD much? LoL)

((HOORAY! SO! Flash snow storm. You should SO not have to rake leaves one fall morning and then shovel snow three hours later… GAHHH… then my car got stuck while I was out, had to walk home JUST AFTER SUNSET an hour through the woods with the coyote's following along but keeping their distance /.\ DIDN'T STOP THERE, branch was sagging over the telephone wires and SLOWLY catching on fire just at the end of my driveway… had to call that into the local authorities… THEN IT EXPLODED. Spent nearly a week without power since it started with 100% of our area out of power, just terrible – read my profile for the full story... Watching the colorful flashes of transformers blowing all over town was pretty though…))

* * *

><p><strong>Approximately Episode 35… 13 eps from the end…Just so you know where you are, it's been awhile!<strong>

"It seems there is some heavy fighting going on in the L5 colony region. The pilot of the 05 is most likely responsible…" Howard continued to click through the long range scan data on the consul while Zechs continued to stare out the large observatory window.

"We have been holding our own so far against the Mobile Dolls, but with that large shipment being sent to Luxembourg base I don't know if Wing Zero and Peacemillion are going to be enough to give the soldiers fighting there a fair chance. Perhaps we should see about teaming up."

"Hmmm…" Howard looked troubled, "You had certainly better be careful, those boys are up for fighting on their own. It's just as likely that Wu Fei will consider you an enemy."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend… perhaps he will at least see the short term benefits to such an alliance against what has got to be the largest concentration of MD's we've seen so far – I'd be happy to work the rest out with him any time after that…"

There was a gleam across the metal mask Zechs had donned once again now that he was on this personal crusade through outer space.

"Alright then… set a course for L5…"

* * *

><p>Wu Fei's rage at the sacrifice of Master Long had long subsided into a calm glass pool. Yet, he continued to move; each gesture of his massive upgraded suit one of violent destruction.<p>

With the vacuum of space giving no resistance he had fallen to a level of maximum efficiency per MD explosion and it was as if he was alone on the field dancing with his Nataku.

Chang Wu Fei was a Warrior: married to his weapon and would bring Justice to all those who sought to fight …and their little toys too.

Soon enough, the vision in his mind became a reality as there was nothing but immobile hunks of scraps strewn far and wide gradually drifting into clusters. His display was an ocean of red indicators – his suit had been drained of vernier boost, moisture released from the exploding reactors had begun to form a Kelvin Frost in his various joints, and while the suit had an on-board air recycling system even it needed to be recharged after a prolonged heavy engagement.

He let his mind go and drift off on the surface of the glass pool…his rudder pole trailing above the undulating crystal resistance waiting to show where the winds guided him…

…there _was_ a gust – a light breeze…

**Most literally** and he became alert: there was a distinct drift as if a celestial wind was gently pushing and urging large swaths of the wreckage field in a singular direction – there was no such thing however and the effect could only be caused by one thing: a massive source of gravity closing in.

"SHOW YOURSELF CREEPING DEMON!"

He cried as he performed a series of twists and poses to try and break the gradually binding frost – exposing the crevasses to the raw sunlight for even a moment was enough to melt the 0 K ice. The only problem was that it would quickly recede further refreezing once more leaving a possibility for severe damage to the joints that would need heavy labor to repair.

Peacemillion complied immediately: uncloaking and revealing its massive wing form.

"_Wu Fei… This is the Peacemillion. We are seeking to destroy those who disrupt the peace of outer space… and the earth. Tell me, whom do you fight against?"_

Wu Fei resisted curling his lip as he clutched his controls. He didn't want to have to explain himself; he just wanted to clear the obstructions to his vision.

"I hardly feel compelled to answer someone who won't even show me their face!"

"_Hhn." _The VID screen activated to show Zechs standing next to Howard on the bridge of Peacemillion. "_Interesting choice of words… I think I might take exception to them."_

"You're that Oz Pilot, Zechs Marquise! I don't think I'm going to sit around and listen to some _traitor_! Why don't you come on out and fight before I destroy you where you stand?"

Zechs looked down to the displays in front of him, Howard having been involved with the lords of Plague himself had the broadcast key to pick up the Altron's status report.

"_If you're aware that I betrayed my orders and left Oz, then I'm surprised you'd expect me to accept your challenge with your Gundam's strength so depleted. If you feel this battleship is a threat to you, then go ahead Wu Fei – destroy us now…" _

Zechs turned his back on the screen and leaned up against the control consul looking down to his boots with a smile. Howard was looking at him completely bewildered; it was as if he had just lost all sense of rhyme or reason! Zechs however, had dealt with his share of headstrong honor obsessed warriors before and was hardly concerned – It wasn't like Wu Fei was piloting with the Zero system or anything,

"…_Otherwise I would be happy to give you the same respect I gave to Heero Yuy and Trowa Barton so we might show one another our true selves in combat. Squabbling aside, Romefeller has collected a large shipment of new Mobile Dolls to be sent to Earth. I have no fear for my own life being lost, but the window for engagement with the fleet is too brief for my suit alone to be able to incur a significant loss against their numbers before they enter the atmosphere."_

As much as the young pilot bristled at the accusation of weakness, the truth was evident. His double beam cannon tail was already completely locked from frost.

"Oh yeah…? **That **many?" He closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest indignantly. "I want to see what kind of a force gives the "Lightning Count" pause. I certainly hope you aren't about to disappoint me." He lifted his face to glare at the screen.

Zechs looked over his shoulder at the young warrior.

"_I always perform to the __**best **__of my abilities."_ The Altron headed for the MS docking bay.

* * *

><p>Wu Fei's attention was fixed on the other Gundam stationed across from his in the Peacemillion docking bay as he stood there holding his sheathed Katana in one hand and his white jacket draped over the other arm. Zechs approached him along the catwalk with Howard in tow – a large hand-rolled cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth as he puffed away at it.<p>

"Since when did you start piloting THAT?" Wu Fei continued to stare down the offending suit.

"Its only been a few days, actually." Zechs too looked up at the Gundam that was still unfamiliar to him despite having rebuilt its previous incarnation the Wing Gundam and battled it on multiple occasions.

"I see. So you wouldn't be the pilot responsible for destroying that colony while I was imprisoned..." Wu Fei turned on Zechs and Howard now: he didn't like the metal mask that obscured his view of the man's eyes very much either.

"No… I heard that was in fact the 04's pilot. It seems the war finally has started catching up to you Gundams…"

Wu Fei said nothing, for nothing needed to be said.

"You're welcome to move about as you please… This is Howard – he's in charge of the ship and the mechanics."

Howard removed the smoking object and gave a wave,

"If you don't mind us starting right away… seems you finished the suit without installing the joint guards – otherwise you wouldn't be having so much of an issue with the space-frost."

Wu Fei looked insulted,

"The old Nataku never needed such things…"

"Well the original five were hardly expected to get involved in prolonged space combat…" He took a long drag and held it; the younger boy's burning eyes failing to pierce through the haze of smoke that swirled around his head, "Once you get a chance to see the difference it makes I'm sure you'll be happy about it – especially when you can just recharge your oxygen supply from the exterior of most colonies and large space dwellings: as long as you conserve your vernier fuel and somehow keep yourself fed, a warrior like yourself could fight an almost endless war… everyone knows that's what this very well could end up turning into..." He ashed the tip into a small tin he kept with him. "…an endless, endless war…"

Wu Fei turned on his heel and marched off,

"Not if I can help it."

Zechs and Howard exchanged looks; Howard skeptical, Zechs feeling more and more confident about this decision… finally someone willing to bring an end to war, not just fight it.

* * *

><p>Wu Fei found himself drawn to the mess hall and indeed was finally able to get a hold of some food. It was only then that he realized how long it had been since his last meal: one of the most dangerous aspects about the vast expanse in which the colonies subsisted was the disorientation from the lack of a day and night cycle to keep track of the passage of time.<p>

He did not appreciate it when Zechs took the seat across from him,

"Do you ever stop hiding behind that thing?" the young man's black eyes tried to cut their way through the offensive reflective piece of head gear.

"It is the distinction between two different people. One has become the ACE Pilot and Lightning Count so many recognize on the battlefield, the other… hardly matters anymore."

Zechs picked up a fork and began to set one end against the table allowing his fingers to slide down the length before lifting it up and allowing the opposite tip to drop – gravity overturning the fork before repeating the plant and stroke …over and over again… …Gravity did seemed such a strange thing when you were drifting among the stars…

_((For Nick ~ From Me: With Love. ^_~ Found the Trout.))_

"So you hide your weaker self, is that what you're saying?" Zechs was struck by this interpretation, he felt his lifestyle would be a disgrace to associate with the Peacecraft name – the more he thought about it though, the more he realized he felt he had more control over his destiny as Zechs Marquise then he ever had as Milliardo Peacecraft: but did that really make him a weaker person?

"No." Milliardo sighed as he pulled the metal mask from his head. He looked into its eyes a moment before putting down beside him. His own piercing frigid blue eyes now locked with Wu Fei's, "As one of the last two surviving members, I do my family the curtsey of disclaiming myself of their name. I'm sure my sister Relena, who carries on their teachings, would never approve of _**my**_ methods of attaining peace."

Wu Fei, who was also now one of the last surviving members of his own family felt a surge of emotion race through him and straight out into the tip of his blade: The katana proved far more effective then his hateful gaze at shattering the offensive object as it lay inert on the table.

Milliardo stared in absolute shock at the shattered remains; somehow it was more of a shock now then the first time it had crumbled under the duress of combat.

"Then accept your dishonor with dignity! If name is no longer yours to have, then why protect the face that once knew it?"

"Strange… Trieze felt the opposite way: that a name is inalienable from a face…"

The name took Wu Fei by surprise; it was almost as if his hated enemy could always find a way to take a stab at him even all the way out here…

"Perhaps he hoped one day you would see how ridicules you looked and give up on pretending to be something your not! I do wonder how it can be that a Pacifist's son would ever understand what it is to be a _true_ warrior!" Milliardo held firm against Wu Fei's attempts to push his rational to violence; his only goal in every situation it would seem.

"I might have been born of the Royal Pacifist family of the Sank Kingdom, but I watched my father's teachings refuse the aid that could have saved our family and perhaps even our Kingdom. There is a time for peaceful people, and a time for warriors. Right now the world needs warriors; to bring peace would be enough for me!"

"If that's how you feel, then why bother changing your name at all? You have already chosen your path, and if your father is dead, then you alone have the right to say how the true pacifist ideal is attained. Why cower in the shadows leaving the responsibilities to some _younger sister_? Are you even a MAN?"

That sent a flash of anger through Milliardo's eyes Wu Fei was digging deeper under his defenses. It seemed it was going to be _a very_ long flight to intercept the shipment fleet…

* * *

><p><strong>Romefeller Headquarters… (AC 195)<strong>

Relena had (OF COURSE) ordered Dorothy released from her confinement and sent her "home".

The blond, with her freakish forked brow and ridiculously long hair, sat on the corner of her grandfather's desk. Duke Dermail was surveying the world outside his window as he thought over the news that his granddaughter had brought him.

"So there is no question in that case: not only are the Gundams in the Sank Kingdom but Trieze has indeed escaped his confinement and is hiding out there as well."

"Hmm, yes… I was curious as to how _that_ came to happen without our being informed _first_. It seems your allies in the Blue Snakes are proving to be as unreliable as their reputation suggests."

Dermail snorted, the "mercenary" group did have quite a 'criminal' reputation for their shady conduct. It's why they always seemed so perfect for the jobs he needed done.

"I sent a squad around… it seems the Red Dragons caught wind and raided the place which is why we never got any reports of the incident. If he really is alive he must have managed an escape before or during the attack – it's unlikely they would have given a second thought before torching him with the rest of the prisoners."

"Criminal Politics is always so fascinating; I wonder if someone in the Trieze Faction tipped them off to it or if the two syndicates are done building themselves up and are ready for a war of their own?"

"An empire is never finished being built, and there is always a war between those low-life thugs, if the Trieze Faction knew I doubt they would have left their _master's_ rescue to the Dragons."

"Well then, what is there to be done about it?" Dorothy picked up a fanciful paperweight off Dermail's desk and began to examine it.

"Relena has proven to be more then capable unfortunately… We seem to have been too greedy with our first attempt and it's caused more trouble then I would like, I'm starting to wonder if it will be wise to continue with our plans as they are…"

"No we should continue by all means… I think really you are worried too much about your nephew being on the loose – what is it The Snakes always say about when a cobra gets loose?

…Let out the mongoose."

* * *

><p>PART B! COMING SOOON!<p> 


	8. Chapter Eleven?

**Chapter 11 – AC193 Lady Une, Angel of Death**

_YES! _Eleven_! I KNOW, your hearing(reading) right! _

_Your like... WTF? Where's 10? or the rest of nine in fact! _

_Well... this is kinda a whole chunk of 'flashback' so technically I could slip it in anywhere..._

_BUT, no need to worry! _His Excellency is here to properly clarify these things...Right, Your Excellency?

::

Trieze Khushrenada, dressed in his blue silky pajama pants, white linen shirt and blue robe, takes a deep sip from his glass of red wine before getting up out of his red velvet chair to walk to the edge of the stage,

"What _is_ 'Order'...? Why does it cause such fixation in the minds of men? The evolution of the markings to denote the various increments of numerical value has _never_ been matched by the evolution of man's demeanor towards deciphering their meaning,

Whilst we see the frequencies of pitch arrayed quite logically in ever increasing, or decreasing, intensities – was it not logical to Bach, Chopin or Mozart when they first arranged those very same stratified waves into an intelligible melody? Do we not constantly praise the form and continuity these masters created, the _logic_ to the patterned precession of notes settling into alignment between each swaying pulse of the metronome's arm?

Who are we, in the face of experiencing _such beauty_, to spit upon the growth of innovation and resist the beckoning reality that awaits us if we open our minds to the sporadic truths that have too long been allowed to regiment our lives into a mundane linear model? Take hold of your fate! Step into the reality that even something as unchangeable as destiny need not be faced in the damning order of which it was prescribed!

If a man is to be both a beggar and a king within his lifetime, does it matter as which he dies? Both opulence and deprivation will be eternally his to reflect upon. So it is to all of you that I entrust this enabling message of hope and freedom...!

…**You need not know nine or ten, to love Eleven with all your heart and soul.**"

He coughs and looks back at Terra (The Author),

"How was that, convincing enough? Do we need to do a second take? You got it? Excellent, tell Lady Une she can find me in the bath..."

Walks away shamelessly stripping off his 'constraining' cloths.

_Yeah, you can't argue with that, can you?=P_

* * *

><p>((Anywho, I'm pretty much going to post this chapter in sections as I've been doing with 'the other' stories, condense them onto one page when they're all up, and then hopefully get everything fixed and put where it's supposed to be and the AC195 plot enfolding again. Could I be intelligent enough to just post this as it's own fic and then add it to this when I get there? No, of course not, can't be SIMPLE like that! To the perceptive ones out there, you will realize that this chapter is imperative to the Cowboy Bebop  Gundam Wing crossover sequel that is also currently in-process of writing now (So go check out 'The Night Grinned Viciously Back'!) Hence why I beat my head into the desk and decided to just _do it._

SO, to those who ALSO tend to sigh every time someone points out that Trieze is naturally paired with Une even though you'd so rather see him with ANYONE ELSE in many occasions… (idk maybe I just still have a grudge against her after trying to blow up the Colony and being such a Bitch to Zechs and Noin. She _did_ give Oz it's bad name _a few_ times, but oh well…) …here's what I've come up with to explain the many things that make up Lady Une's character from glasses obsession to compact make-up kit bombs to split personalities along with exactly what kind of a relationship would have started between the two Oz commanders...

It's how I tell myself "But it's all ok in the end." ^_^))

* * *

><p>...<strong>AC 193 (PART 1)<strong>...

Lt. Colonel Une had wonderfully plain looks, not something one normally prided them selves on. Then again not many would value going unnoticed as much as Une did, considering her profession. Her target from the night before lay in a heap amongst the bed sheets – dead.

She mentally packed up the memories of his wild ungainly thrashing atop her the night before. The carnal instincts of man always seemed to bring out their _least graceful_ nature, something she simply had to endure while she'd bided her time till the morning when the valuable digital package could be received.

She had been recruited young as an Alliance spy with promises that her father and brothers would be taken care of. Even though they had never kept those promises, she had continued to do the only work she seemed capable of but today that would all be changing:

When she'd heard that the Romefeller Foundation was looking to hire someone of her talents to a command position in their Elite "Specials" Alliance Mobile Suit Division, she had imminently sent in her application. It was rarely refused as the Lt. Colonel usually proved to be everything to be desired and more. She was not surprised they already ordered her to attend a briefing this afternoon for her new assignment.

She went about putting the final finishing touches on the scene; destroying any forensic evidence that would give away the real purpose of the mans death.

The hotel was rocked with an explosion as she started down the stairwell at the other end of the hall from the room.

…Data collected, target eliminated, moving on…

* * *

><p>…<strong>that afternoon…<strong>

'_You have got to be kidding me.'_ …Is all she could think looking at her new 'uniform' lying out on the bed.

The typical white pants had been replaced with leggings so thin they might as well be tights, the ankle high boots had three inch stiletto heels and the 'Jacket' was just long enough to serve as a mini-skirt as well. Exactly what kind of a command commission was this that required her to look like a call girl?

Dutifully she adorned the form fitting clothing and looked herself over in the mirror. She did NOT have a chance of getting away with bending over in the outfit, not with a round ass like hers at least. Never the less she finished packing her things away and headed out to the waiting limo that would take her to the Romefeller headquarters…

…Everything about the place was big and opulent, gold coated every surface that wasn't mahogany or marble, it was like walking into a fairy tale. She couldn't help the instinct to thank the man who held the door open for her to enter her new employer's office. Duke Dermail stood looking out the window behind his desk sipping at a cup of tea when she entered. She couldn't help the slightly squeamish feeling in her stomach at the pleased smile that grew on the old man's face as he looked over her attire.

"Lt. Colonel Une! I must say you do appear to fit the part perfectly," He put the tea cup and saucer down on his desk before tucking his coat-tails to sit in his high backed leather chair, "I know that your used to more focused commissions, but I'm sure that you will be able to bring the same dedication over the long term as you do to all of your assignments." he folded his hands together, elbows propped on the desk.

"I was quite intrigued at the particular set of qualities you were looking for since they were not what one would expect to be desired in a command position."

"Ah yes... well you see I have a particularly personal interest in ensuring that this new position be created. It's a highly sensitive matter and I would hope that I have your understanding that it must be treated with the utmost discretion?"

"Why of course, sir." He grinned widely at that, before taking a very concerned expression, almost too concerned as if he was compensating for his lack of feelings to back it up.

"The trouble I'm afraid say is with my dearest nephew..." he got up again and swept his arm to the side to invite her to step around the desk to look out the window behind him. A young man about her own age with golden ginger hair starchly dressed in a bright blue uniform and tall Calvary boots was reclining on a stone bench with his back against a tree trunk in the garden courtyard outside, "...my _beloved_ brother was murdered by a group of colonist rebels along with his wife and daughter a few short years ago, the boy has never quite been the same since. Now as you see my own son, General Catalonia – god rest his soul, tragically gave his life in battle recently making it _only natural _that the responsibility pass onto Trieze..."

'_Of course_' Une thought sarcastically, '_It wouldn't make sense to look for someone _of talent_ to take over, that would just be uncouth.'_ she resisted the urge to roll her eyes even if the old man was looking away from her, continuing his performance. Outside a servant approached Colonel Trieze, who was vacantly staring at some unknown thing, with a tray of tea; setting it down on a folding stand he carried with him to prepare a cup of it. Duke Dermail continued almost as if in rebuttal to her unspoken criticism.

"...he possess an absolutely brilliant tactical mind, and certainly is not lacking in charisma. However, after experiencing such _tragedy_ and loss his mental state has become... shall we say, _fragile..._?"

Upon being offered the cup of tea the Colonel sniffed it once before leaping to his feet and furiously hurling it, shattering both the serenity of the picturesque scene and the tray of china, then proceeded to angrily chastise the white-wigged servant who was now scrambling to collect the scattered shards in the grass.

"...What I am really looking for is someone who can keep an eye on him, review his work and make sure that my interests...and of _course_ the interests of the Romefeller foundation," He laughed at that as if it was obvious that they were one and the same thing. Turning to regard her with a warm smile that was spine chilling at best he continued on, "...Are properly looked after in the days to come. I was hoping that a _woman_ of your_ extraordinary talents_ would be able to see to _all_ of his needs?" the smile stayed plastered in place.

"I see..." Une was just starting to wonder what exactly she had been tricked into this time...


	9. Chapter 11 parts 2 thru 4

**CH Eleven! Part 2!**

(((For Now I'm going to just collapse this chapter a bit, there is ONE more section of ch 11 to publish and then the next thing you know I'll have the proper chapters where they should be! Go read the Vicious fic =P and all about his evil fun, if you haven't already...))

* * *

><p><em>...All is not as it seems...<em>

If Lt. Colonel Une was the type of woman to keep a dairy, the entry pertaining to those first few weeks at her new job would have gone something like this:

To call Trieze Khushrenada... or rather 'His _Most Honorable_ Excellency _Colonel _Trieze _Godrick_ Khushrenada the _Thirteenth_'...

...a childish, stuck up, self absorbed, pompous, irrationally eccentric, perverted ASSHOLE...

...would be such a gross _understatement _that I would have to personally shoot the person for misrepresenting His Excellency's character.

Which, _in fact_, is not only completely within my power to do so, but one of the primary responsibilities of my new post – to 'protect' his glistening gold leaf and white gloved reputation.

Mostly, from himself...

...actually **entirely** from himself!

I really don't know how much longer I am going to put up with all of this aristocratic BULLSHIT! I've worked with the rich and powerful before, but nothing compares to the complete asinine inefficiency that goes to work ensuring the _sugar cubes_ get properly stacked for tea time; the **sugar cubes** for gods sake!

There is endless paper-churning and debating and meetings; all to make decisions that my _equally_ _esteemed _employer, Duke Dermail, will undoubtedly over rule... just for Mr. Trieze to over turn... that's where I step in to over write... for Duke Dermail to over look _completely_ while Mr. Trieze issues direct over rides to the individual commanders in charge of over seeing implementation; The entire administration process runs on a waltz of hopeless futility!

Meanwhile, _Mr. Trieze_ seems to spend most of his days lounging around in a drunken stupor nitpicking every detail of it while putting off all his own work till the last possible minute! He barely reads reports, then will argue vehemently that he's carefully considered all the possibilities and that it is imperative that things be done _his_ way; even if it directly contradicts the decisions reached by the Romefeller Board of Directors or the command of his uncle the chief representative!

Its no wonder Dermail felt he had to hire him a full time nanny!

Furthermore the man is not just a _little_ eccentric, or a _little_ emotionally unstable, he's an absolute LUNITIC. Exhibiting full blown paranoia, with possible signs of schizophrenia mixing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. His grip on reality is as consistent as desert rain; more then once going into an Alliance commanders conference he's hardly seemed to know where he was! It's as if he takes far too much of his medication on purpose!

On top of that, he's already made more then a few allusions to his Uncle's involvement in some conspiracy involving his father's murder and that _HE,_ Mr. Pampered Multi-Trillionaire, is now being 'kept' as a slave to the man's whims – talk about over dramatizing the situation!

Everybody has a job they don't necessarily want to do, my own life has been one undesirable situation after another, but we simply do what's expected of us – there's no point crying over spilled cherry juice. Let alone throwing a full blown (or_ grown_) tantrum when I tried to cut one of his hour plus 'bath times' out of his daily schedule to replace it with the way most _mortals_ cleanse themselves, a shower.

...God forbid the rose scented oils ever run out unexpectedly!

I can't count the number of times I've caught him ogling my too short-skirted ass, then out of the blue one morning he went and ordered me a whole new set of _longer_ uniforms! All those times I was embarrassed he was getting a hard-on and it turns out... Nope! Gay.

Now I'm even more humiliated at the fact that I've been put up to this _circus act_ to begin with; he was probably just disgusted by the sight of my bulging womanly derriere! When I confronted him on the matter he insisted that he was simply acting with graciousness and went into great length describing it as an 'aesthetically pleasing example of the possibilities of the female anatomy' – hardly reassuring.

Especially when I'm positive I almost walked in on him engaged with another man in his office! Who _of course_ was no where to be found after a thorough search of the area; but I know I heard what I heard, and even if everyone else is completely insane in this place I'm not about to give in!

If anything I think it's time I apply for another transfer; it's clear that this 'command' position is simply yet another trap to keep someone like myself from actually being able to do what needs to be done...

...About there is where she would have put down her pen, re-read her work... and promptly torn the pages out for incineration; Never leave incriminating evidence.

* * *

><p>Lt. Colonel Une let out a long sigh finally finishing her work and sliding the papers into the shredder.<p>

That was it. The last of it. She was done... really done.

She'd submitted her first, and hopefully last, report for evaluation to Duke Dermail the previous afternoon before Colonel Trieze had left for a 3-day Caribbean cruise aboard his personal luxury Navel Command vessel; attached with the report had been her request for a transfer.

She straightened up her office making sure to add a few things into the boxes she was beginning to pack up to be ready to leave; then set out for Duke Dermail's office – now used to ignoring the abundance of staff that took care of all the minute details of the fairy-tale realm...

"Ah, Lt. Colonel Une..." Dermail had a very strange expression on his face as he attempted to smile welcomingly yet seem vaguely troubled by something. "...I was most impressed by the thoroughness of your report, it seems you've had a very revealing perspective on the problems hindering our inability to achieve our maximum potential. There was however one little problem..." he disdainfully released the last page, her transfer request, so that it floated down and into the grasp of the shredders teeth. As if that thin white sheet were a valuable page from the book of her sanity, she felt a visceral tug of emotion at it's destruction. "...I would hope that you would take a little stroll with me."

Une had no idea exactly what to expect, but followed alongside Dermail as they seemed to travel almost aimlessly down through the levels of the Romefeller Headquarters.

"Tell me, how have you found your living quarters? Comfortable? Or do the expansiveness of these halls leave you feeling their void?"

Une glanced up at him frowning slightly; she'd gotten used to these kinds of round about conversations over the past weeks,

"The accommodations here are quite luxurious, I could hardly say anything is lacking." He smiled at that, pleased.

"Very good. In your report, you seem to stress the fact that you feel that my nephew's disposition causes some friction when it comes to getting work done properly – I was quite surprised to find that he's been wasting so very much effort on micro-managing orders once they've been issued. You see we here at the Romefeller Foundation are currently taking steps to streamline our operation for the utmost efficiency, and input from a person in your position is_ invaluable_ to us. I was wondering if you might tell me a little more about your comment that it would be more appropriate for a fully trained medical professional to assist Colonel Trieze in managing his condition?"

Une swallowed hard _'Not good. Oh well, no use lying...'_

"From what I've observed the Colonel might benefit from a more thorough evaluation. At times his erratic behavior might make one wonder if he is perhaps unfit for duty. A certified physician might be able to administer more functional care to him then myself, but in the mean time his lack of cooperation and judgment might make it more practical to find a more stable candidate for his post."

"Ah, Ms. Une you don't seem to understand; _you _have to be the more stable candidate for his post. This is precisely why we ensured that your own privileges would be a redundancy of his own. It is your responsibility to lend him _your_ judgment in accordance to the will of the Foundation. Now if you feel that my nephew's treatment would benefit from a more personal administration, then I can assure you that arrangements have already been made." they were descending down a narrow stairwell, at the bottom Dermail activated a key pad and the heavy door slid aside, "I may like to clear up any confusions here and now; Trieze _condition_ is indeed being seen to by the very best specialists in the world. It is however imperative to **your** success if you feel that you lack such skills that you take the measures to train yourself to be able to assist my nephew in maintaining his post."

The room beyond was devoid of the ornate opulence that saturated the rest of the Foundation's headquarters. The handful of men who casually waited about the room at various tables were not dressed in military standard uniforms, they wore long tailored navy blue overcoats with silver edging; she'd spotted them from time to time before.

"I still can't help but recommend that your time would be better spent finding a qualified psychia –"

Une was cut off when the large circular vault like door they were standing in front of was rolled back unleashing a gut wrenching keen into the room – the sound ceased as it's shackled source slumped deep within the gloom of the shaft cut back into the wall. There was a shifting of movement as one of the other forms in the darkness moved forwards and clicked a flashlight on to check the man's condition. There was a sputtering of choking coughs once he used a quick shot of adrenaline to bring the prisoner around again.

"...as you see we are taking steps to ensure his future... cooperation? As it were? I'm sure you do not_ really _want to give up your new post so soon." He chuckled, "Oh, and we feel that it might be time for _you_ to take over administering his... medications," He handed her a small, thick-novel sized lock-box that could easily fit into a breast pocket. "The instructions are inside, you are to burn them after memorization. I'm sure it will be much easier for you to manage his disposition from now on."

He gave that spine freezing smile again as he opened one arm wide gesturing that she should lead them back out of the 'clinic' as the 'doctors' went back to work.

* * *

><p>Trieze woke slowly...<p>

Just breathing told him how sore his muscles were and at first hardly tried to move from the couch in his personal quarters where he'd been left. Gradually he started to stretch, flexing the aching pains as he turned over and opened his eyes trying to search for some indication of 'when' it was.

He froze spotting Lieutenant Colonel Une sitting in a chair watching him.

"How long have you been there?"

"A while." She had a strange expression on her face, not her typical over zealous impatience.

"Then we should get right to work." Gritting through the pain he heaved himself up onto his feet, straightening the uniform jacket he'd already been redressed in, as he crossed to his desk.

"How was your cruise?" She hadn't moved from the chair.

He paused with his back to her,

"It was lovely, uneventful... just the sort of rest I have been in need of." Trieze was wondering how much more he should embellish the lie.

"I'm surprised you didn't get a chance to spend more time in the sun." Une was wondering how long he was going to keep covering up the truth.

"Ah, well... my skin is not easy to tan."

He started shuffling through the stack of papers on the desk... it looked like there was close to three full days worth of work accumulated. The realization was like taking the last step down a flight of stairs, just to discover you'd miscounted as your foot continues beyond where the floor should have been; three days of his life just... gone to blackness.

"...and Greece? I'm told the Aegean Sea can get quite rough this time of year..."

"Everyone is about visiting Athens, but you know the Island of Lemnos has always been a favorite stop of mine." Trieze had sat himself down and was already shifting through the paperwork at full tilt, ticking away with a pen, while Une strangely hadn't moved from her chair.

"It looked like you had a busy schedule for the trip, did you still fit in a stop there?"

"Of course, would not have been much point going otherwise." He was puzzling over the latest news from the colonies.

"...even though your trip was to the Caribbean? Not the Mediterranean?"

Trieze stopped and looked up at her blinking,

"What?"

Une finally did get up and walked over to his desk flipping open the leather bound datebook in the corner and pointing to the neatly detailed itinerary for his 'Caribbean cruise'.

"Well?"

Trieze looked from it to her and back a few times before settling back in his chair, putting the paperwork down,

"You lied first. This time you can hardly say I am the insane one. Is there something your trying to prove?"

"I could ask the same of you. The games you've been playing are no less convoluted then his."

The look spreading across Trieze's hansom face as he appraised the woman standing before him, perfectly radiated such a warm and inviting aura...that it was purely evil. He leaned forwards and folded his hands together,

"Games? You have already told me about this utter insanity I have been suffering from... Now, what kind of games have I been playing? Who exactly is this 'his' I have been getting the upper hand of? I am _very interested_ in these developing theories of yours..."

Une shook her head slowly simply amazed at his resilience as she tried to scan his face for the slightest hint of confirmation that it indeed belonged to the same man she'd seen down that dark tunnel two days ago – It was, but at the same time just couldn't be!

"They really don't leave the slightest mark do they?" Nothing; not a single twitch, flinch or shadow of a reaction through those brilliant too-blue eyes. Une couldn't help glancing down at the work he'd already started on the desk. Picking up the report she was even further baffled by the fact he'd ALREADY begun annotating it with notes preparing to subvert the clearly laid out instructions from Duke Dermail. "You ca–" She jumped backwards and did a double take now that her brain had clued into what was out of place about his Excellency's exquisitely set features – FAR too blue eyes, his pupils were completely missing!

"Ah, let me guess..." Trieze did look a little bashful then as he pulled a small mirror from his top drawer to glance in it, "They took out my contacts this time." he looked back up at her putting it away; his gaze seemed even more intense with the realization that she was being seen by those twin blue abysses.

"What ARE you?" Just when she thought she was seeing the whole picture, suddenly everything had a new light shining on it.

Trieze's expression immediately turned sour,

"It is not very polite to assume just because_ something_ is different about a person that they are not a person anymore."

"So then you ARE a human?" She thought it would explain a lot if he were otherwise.

"Of _course_ I am. Are you?" Trieze gave a polite scoff, while Une pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes.

"So what _am_ I seeing here?" She moved down and then to the side peering at the strange phenomenon while Trieze continued to regard her with the same suspicious airs.

"What your seeing is my eyes, just my eyes. It's nothing that spectacular. You have been wondering how I claim to read things I barely glance at, perhaps now you needn't be so abrasive about the issue? It really would make things more productive around here."

Une shook her head in wonderment trying to regain her bearings,

"You can't do this though..."

"Can not do what?" He pulled the paper back out of her hand and reinserted it into the queue resuming his task of marking up the reports for reply.

"This!" Une slammed her hand down on the stack of papers, "You can't keep trying to undermine what Duke Dermail wants! Your not allowed!"

"Oh?" Trieze smiled sweetly, "Is that not the game though?" His warm white gloved hand closed around hers and moved it aside so he could resume.

Une breathed a deep sigh relenting, and then resigning that her duty could not be helped...

...Trieze Khushrenada froze at the sight of the orange banded needle she produced from the mini-lock box she'd been issued.

* * *

><p><em>...Eleven Part 4...<em>

(((Dedication goes to...

Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit

"_One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, and the ones that mother gives you? Don't do anything at all..._

_Go ask Alice...when she's 10 feet tall._

_And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know your going to fall. Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call..._"

& 'the yellow one' would be the same "_old fashioned brass and glass needle, with a sticker-band of yellow wrapped around, he took out when moving the lock-box onto the nightstand._" in Chapter 4 'Night Grinned Viciously Back' – just to clear questions...for more questions.)))

* * *

><p><strong>Now<strong> all was well in the merry old land of Oz:

Paperwork got done early and correctly _the first time_; especially after Une obtained a larger monitor for Trieze's desk along with Dermail's permission to digitally streamline the process and join the rest of the Earth Sphere in the paperless After Colony century. There were no more personal calls to under-commanders, and Trieze even gave the shower a try...

...just once...

...for _half_ a second before he firmly drew the line at how much change could be coerced with her prickly threats.

His Excellency was on such good behavior he was even allowed to attend a Russian opera with Marquise Wélige; under Lt. Colonel Une's close supervision _and only_ after taking his blue banded 'prescription' _of course_.

And _of course_ at about 3 AM Une hauled herself back out of bed and headed down the hall to Mr. Trieze's quarters.

As expected, 7 hours after administering that particular injection she found him curled up on the bathroom floor with his head resting on the toilet bowl's edge; already suffering from chemical withdrawal with the vague smell of sick in the air.

"You should have just let me give you the yellow one when we got back." She crossed her arms leaning on the door frame.

"Blue just feels so nice..." he groggily rasped.

"Right until you end up dry heaving for and hour or more, I'm sure."

"Hn...I certainly like the new carpet." She had indeed added a small shag rug to his bathroom for just such occasions. He very cautiously tried lifting his head again fighting back the waves of nausea caused by the strange deep bodily ache. "It's not as though you have started taking pity on me or anything is it?" he couldn't help smirking.

Just as she was feeling a twinge of sympathy, he always knew how to add in a little reminder that there _was_ a reason for all the extra bars on his cell – from dealing with him all this time she'd clued onto that at least. It was like she was trying to keep a tiger in a royal palace, no amount of catering to it would change the fact that it might like the taste of you more.

"Look, do you want me to just give you the green one or would you rather I ran you a bath and you can just sit the rest of it out till morning?"

"What time is it?" Taking long deep breaths leaning back against the wall he could feel his heightened awareness of sensation slowly returning. He tried to use it to focus on his surroundings like soft fuzzy carpet now under him...a far better alternative than his still churning insides and spinning head.

"Just after three."

"I'll take the bath..." He stayed on the floor taking the time to appreciate the view as she rolled up the white sleeves on the button up blouse she'd thrown on over her short night dress and set about prepping the large tub.

The cascade of hot water quickly began to permeate the room with rose scented steam before Une excused herself to the other room leaving him to undress. She had intended to simply sit on his bed, leaning up against one of the four posters resting her eyes.

Eventually time, and Trieze, found her fast asleep on top of the sheets. She awoke to find Trieze laying asleep next to her clothed only in a towel...

...He shifted and turned over: no more towel.

**Now **he was just _naked_.

Shaking her head in exasperation she couldn't help hesitating a moment before she folded the blanket over itself covering him muttering,

"Always the best looking ones..."

...before stalking back to her own room for a few more hours of sleep. She told herself the brief inspection had been in wonder of the lack of marks from his captivity, but really...she knew the cause of her disappointment had nothing to do with that.

* * *

><p>...<em>in Dermail's office, again...<em>

"Ah, Lt Colonel Une! I have to say you have made most excellent progress, these are exactly the results I was hoping for. Have found your new tools helpful?" Duke Dermail barely glanced up from his work.

"They... seemed rather blunt to start. I suppose you could say I've found... an adequate finesse in... plying them." she shuddered hearing her own words coming out of her mouth.

"Most excellent, most excellent indeed..." He finished his work with a flourish and stood collecting his papers into a leather folio, "Now, Ms. Une I am embarking on a little trip. Shouldn't be gone for more than a week, but I really want you to use that time to work on building a _trust_ with my nephew."

Une blinked thoroughly confused at the request.

"A trust, sir?"

"If that boy takes after his father and forefathers in the slightest, he won't simply be contained like some wild beast, his ways are more akin to the forces of nature. We need to be able to allow him to direct that force in such a way that _our_ ends are met. Do you understand? You need to glean his aspirations, find out from whom he would ask for support," Dermail walked around the desk pausing just past her, "Lengthen his leash? See where the boy runs, but remember to secure his trust. I'm confident it is a task your capable of accomplishing."

He firmly patted her ass, twice, before leaving the office without bothering to wait for a response.

Une had to swallow back down the up-chuck the contact had provoked from her stomach. The heavy thud of the solid wooden door to Dermail's office closing behind him was a disturbing reminder of just how thin the line was between the captives and the captors in this mad house.

Great. Now she was expected to woo a gay man. This would be impossible, she thought as she made her way back towards the wing with their personal quarters, was Dermail even aware that he'd chosen the wrong _sex_ for the job?

"Lt. Colonel Une!" one of the normal Romefeller guards that had slowly replaced the navy blue coated creeps over the past month called out to her as she approached.

"Yes?"

"Colonel Trieze wanted to inform you that you'd be able to find him by the number six Mobile Suit hanger."

"Number Six Mobile Suit hanger?" She gives him an inch and he...

Une stopped mid thought, wasn't this exactly what Dermail had just told her to encourage? Well, maybe it was time to get to work.

* * *

><p><em>...Number Six MS bay...<em>

Trieze Khushrenada inhaled deeply the scents of the grease, hydraulics and welded metal that filled the uninhabited back-up Mobile Suit bay. The friendly hulking forms of the old model Leos, a few modified for air combat, lining both sides with catwalks running past for easy cockpit access.

Walking down one of the catwalks lengths he stopped midway to lean back against the rail and stare out at the opposing line up. It was like standing on a chess board with your own pawns towering behind you; the enemy looming ahead... was he white or black though? Was it his burden to make the first move or would he be able to steer his Uncle's overconfidence to meet his own ends?

There was the sound of the cockpit hatch behind him unsealing and then swinging open, unleashing a billowing cloud of pungently odored smoke that washed over him.

"Trieze Godrick Khushrenada the Thirteenth! I AM YOUR FATHER...s ex-lover's son!"

Trieze put his face in his hand, shaking his head slowly in embarrassment.

"Mudo... what _are _you doing in here?"

Sure enough Nitro Mudo, garbed in a pristine Oz Lieutenant's uniform, was lounging across the MS pilot's seat nursing the end of a marijuana filled cigar.

"No, doesn't work as well does it? Anyways, shouldn't I be asking _you _that? I mean it is pretty obvious what **I** am doing."

"Really? And what would that be?"

"What I do best: Sticking it to the man." He gave a Cheshire grin as he let the smoke stream out his nostrils.


	10. Lady Une Angel Of Death part 5

Play music of triumphant joy cuz here it is... part 5 of... SIX?

WTF? Yeah... no, hear me out! it's very epic actually and what I thought I could cover in 2-3000 words... is looking like 6000... Oh well!

That's art for you...this section (and the next) is the real reason for this detour back to this point in AC time aside from info for the sequel. Super Yay for working in subtle reference to every Trieze fan's favorite episode "The Trieze Assassination".

….though damn it, I forgot to put in the detail about how Lt Colonel Une wears her hair in a pony tail for now... Doh! Sigh. Those references will get inserted into previous sections when I get the real ch9 & ch10 posted so when you read it in the right order everything is where it should be... PART 6 COMING SOOOOON... as well. I mean this didn't take THAT long did it?

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

**Lady Une; Angel of Death**(part 5 of 6... not quite there yet...)

...Wisps of smoke still circled and danced amongst the crevices of the old Leo cockpit in the number 6 Mobile Suit hanger as Nitroglycerin Mudo's personal laptop, tucked safely out of sight behind the pilot's seat, continued to automatically stream and scan the Romefeller data network through its unassuming proxy.

"What I ask, is for you to be on a shuttle that does not reach its destination." Trieze Khushrenada was leaning back on the rail, arms crossed, with one high-booted foot on top a crate of the 105mm rounds ready to be loaded into one of the massive drum magazines belonging to the Leo's basic armament. The HVG's main processor and interface glasses waited on the pile of boxes next to him.

"Oh come on Trieze... when have you ever been afraid of a little opposition?" Mudo was doing pull-ups out of boredom, hanging from the same rail over the three story drop. The uniform having been form fitted to someone else's body meant it had quickly started to pinch and chafe; so he'd removed the jacket and shirt leaving his sculpted arms and torso bare.

Just below and to the side of where the belly button would be on a natural born person, a scar-like join was still visible from the intensive surgery five years ago replacing his right hip and pelvis – A short 3-round burst from that very same '_basic_' 105mm armament had annihilated a light transport vehicle he'd been too close to; it was a miracle he survived the encounter to make a full recovery.

"It is not my competition I am concerned with, nor even yours. Noventa is being considered for promotion as the new Field Marshal. No one likes General Septum, but they can not help being swayed by the fear mongering his associates are advocating." Trieze turned to his left to look at Mudo, "Noventa needs a victory in space now more then ever, without it he might be passed over for more undesirable choices simply because others will doubt his ability to gain cooperation from the Space Forces. The Specials division does have the jurisdiction to act independently of them in the Colonies, but luckily for you Dermail has seen that my hands are otherwise tied on the matter."

Mudo pulled himself up to rest leaning over the rail,

"So what your saying is; disappear until this blows over?" he looked up at Trieze, hopefully.

"No. I am saying you need to disband the militias and see that there no longer will be any identifiable front opposing the Alliance's dictatorial rights."

"I don't... that... your asking a hell of a lot." he shook his head, "People _need_ hope, they need a light to flock to out their in that starry abyss... if one loses focus it can get very disorienting with no horizon. Doing an inter-cluster drift on a mission way back, one of my men actually went blind. Not a thing wrong with his eyes, his mind just stopped being able to comprehend spacial proportions, it _can be_ that bad."

"I heard that story of yours before, remember? I still doubt its truth now just as much as I did then. Noventa was one of the allies prepared to fight in the Sank Kingdom's defense, if only King Peacecraft had allowed them to take up arms. I do not doubt that, if the people of the Colonies give him a chance, they will be able to put their trust in his priorities." Trieze steadily met Nitro's incredulous stare.

"How about a plan that _doesn't_ involve chances or trust? A plan like you, coming with me, and getting the hell out of this prison you've been stuffed in?" Trieze was shaking his head before Mudo even finished speaking.

"I would lose everything and waste the opportunity to allow Dermail to set me up exactly where I want to be." Trieze smirked, "Besides, recently they hired a lovely keeper whose been taking such very good care of me. I would hate to think what would happen to her if I were to suddenly vanish."

Mudo started laughing so hard he nearly slipped off the railing,

"Lovely? THAT woman? Please tell me you have read her file... it's like reading the chronicles of 'la femme fatale'**.** I can't imagine picking a more masochistic lover! Even _my _wife starts seeming pretty tame compared to her history."

Chuckling,

"Oh, I _have_ read her file, quite thoroughly... she certainly is a challenge indeed."

Trieze's smirk had spread into a full-on grin causing Mudo to give an exasperated sigh and hang his head in despair at his friend's truly single-objective mind.

"I know your not going to listen to it; but my advice? Keep that woman as far away from your bed as possible, you'll probably find out too late that she isn't even human anymore. No matter what, when the time comes she _will _do you in without a second thought, just like all the rest."

"Nitro, see to that disbandment and about _**Lady**_ Une? ...Leave that to me." As if on cue for the duel to begin: a scraping, crunching, squeal sound of un-oiled hinges opening resounded throughout the huge building, followed by the impact to the heavy reinforced door slamming shut.

Lt Colonel Une crossed to, and mounted, the base of the metal stairs at the catwalk's end. Mudo quickly dropped down and swung up to brace himself out of view against the underbelly of the catwalk; in his haste forgetting the jacket and shirt in a heap on the ground above.

"Lieutenant Colonel, it would seem you have caught up to me already. What a shame..." Trieze turned to face her so that his right boot slid out and dropped the bundle off the edge before she approached close enough to see around the obscuring crates.

Nitro strained to stifle his grunt as he caught the uniform before it fell out of reach, struggling to re-secure his wedged position – Zechs would be very upset with him if he lost it.

"Your Excellency, perhaps you should start considering the fact it might be more of a shame if I had not. I am saving you from your own misbehavior after all." Une stalked down the spanning distance dressed in her burgundy uniform, hair in a tight pony tail with her high-heeled boots clicking away.

"Ah, but where is the enjoyment in that?" He leaned on one elbow watching her hips sway through his long lashes.

"Your uncle, Dermail, has left for the week." She stopped a meter away studying him carefully. Something seemed out of place, like a smell in the air she couldn't put her finger on. Looking to the side she noticed the cockpit was open, "Even so you know your not allowed to be near a Mobile Suit's controls..." she gave him a reproachful glare, "..._even_ if it's just for a bit of enjoyment."

Trieze gave a melodramatic sigh,

"My dear lady, surely you can empathize with what an inhuman torture it is to keep a Pilot grounded for so long?"

"I'm sorry I don't have any idea what you are getting at." Une crossed her arms shaking her head. She could definitely name a number of _other _tortures she considered 'inhuman', but not that.

"Do you not miss your time in the cockpit as well?" Trieze's face was riddled with confused concern. Une continued to shake her head.

"I've never piloted a Mobile Suit before."

It was with great precision that the look of concern morphed into that of realization followed by pity filled disappointment; _he_ was a Khushrenada, not some half-ass Catalonia after all.

"Oh... Midi Une... my dearest lady..." he sighed shaking his head, "...that does explain it." He turned to look mournfully out over the railing leaning forward on his forearms, hands folded.

"Explain what?" Une scoffed.

"It is nothing... really." Trieze closed his eyes bowing his head in thought, teasing her interest further.

"Exactly _what_ is wrong with not having piloting experience?" she always got annoyed quickly whenever he started being elusive.

"Think about what you have just said, Lt Colonel..."

"I hardly think I need to." she was tapping her foot impatiently.

Underneath the catwalk, she wasn't the only one cursing Trieze's round about ways, as sweat was starting to bead up on Mudo's skin. He started working around so that he could hook his knees over a pipe carrying water to hang upside down. Then with his long ponytail dangling, he worked the shirt and jacket back on. Maneuvers like these were far easier in the reduced gravity environments of the Colonies.

"Your second in command of the Special's division, a collection of the most elite Mobile Suit pilots in the Earth Sphere... yet you've never piloted one yourself? Considering that, I will expect far fewer challenges to my judgment from now on."

"You will not! It does not change my qualifications for _commanding_ Mobile Suits. I am perfectly aware of their capabilities and the requirements of their units."

"Its not about textbook qualifications or being aware of capabilities and requirements, my lady. It is an entirely separate attribute that makes the difference between someone who is simply capable of commanding, and someone who is ...an elite commander."

Lady Une felt a punch of emotion in her stomach, how dare he suggest she was unqualified for her duty? If anything she was _over_ qualified!

"Exactly _what_ attribute is **that**?" She'd just put her foot down right in the middle of a finely crafted bear trap without even realizing it.

Trieze Khushrenada turned on her now, his intense deep blue eyes opening to catch her fully unprepared,

"...**Trust,** my dear Lady Une. You can have neither **trust **in the soldiers, nor the soldiers **trust **in you, without coming to an understanding of their fears and ideals. Such an understanding can only be gained by sharing in their experience on the battlefield."

That word. It was like the latches of a cell door locking behind her... only, she was on the wrong side of it.

"Trust? It is a soldier's job to follow orders, that is all. To acknowledge fear and complected ideals is merely a distraction on the battlefield." she couldn't help turning away to hide the flash of panic as he moved closer to lean against the crate next to her.

"I disagree entirely... it is one's ideals that allow a soldier to eliminate distractions and accomplish their goals no matter what the situation." Trieze had picked up the interface lenses for the Z-PLCs and was playing with their thin retractable cord distractedly.

"I hardly see how ideals can accomplish anything in the real world of warfare."

"Then you agree that there is no way you can understand what a Mobile Suit is capable of until you have actually piloted one." Her jaw dropped as she turned back to gawk at him sputtering out incoherent syllables. Trieze continued on undaunted, loving every second of his long awaited moment, "You know... I **was** an instructor for quite some time."

Zip, swish, click...

Zip, swish, click... went the retractable cord in his white gloved hands.

Trieze, You, Fuck...

Trieze, You, Fuck... went Mudo under their feet, desperately starting to plan an escape from his still precarious perch. The Gundamium implants might be many times stronger then the original bones they'd replaced, but the soft tissues now under stress as he hung were definitely remembering their traumatic experience and a fiery ache from the joint was slowly intensifying.

Une turned to regard the line up of Leo's across the hanger from them swallowing hard. She felt like she had no control over the situation, what was she even supposed to accomplish right now? Follow him, secure his trust... the innuendo was there at the time but perhaps it was a matter of crossed signals? Maybe Dermail knew Trieze better then she thought and this was precisely his intention, he was his uncle after all.

What danger could possibly be greater then the implied punishment for failure? She shook her head clearing her thoughts, Trieze was still watching her carefully with those strange eyes of his.

"You know I would be in a lot of trouble if you were allowed to act against Dermail's ordinances."

Trieze raised his elegantly forked brow,

"Dermail's ordinances dictate that I am not allowed near a Mobile Suit unless he orders it so, as his personal representative it is up to your judgment to direct me accordingly. It would hardly be against his will if you command it... However, I guess it is understandable if you lack the confidence to give it a try, the experience can be... overwhelming, for some."

Une narrowed her eyes suspiciously, there was always a reason for everything – why _was_ Dermail so insistent on keeping Mr. Trieze away from piloting a Mobile Suit? Keeping him off the battlefield was understandable enough for a high ranking commander, and she had no doubt that would be a struggle too if he wasn't kept under restraint already. It was not as if he, or anyone for that matter, could actually accomplish anything with a single suit: could they?

"Why should I trust you?"

"Why should you trust my uncle? He is a man who can not afford to let out his secrets. You already know what he has planned the moment you become unnecessary." he pulled on the cord again, Zip... then released, Swish, click. Une was frozen staring into those eyes that almost seemed to be sucking in her very soul. There he had gone and spelled out the very core of the reality she had been ignoring since day one. "So tell me about it..."

"About what?" her voice cracked.

"Tell me about how you plan to escape."

Une leaned back against the stack of crates folding her arms and closing her eyes, holding her silence as long as she could.

"Show me." She took a step towards the open cockpit. Hearing it below, Mudo sucked in his breath.

Trieze caught her shoulder as he picked up the processor with his other hand,

"No, not that one. For your first time I think one of the flight-type modified Leo's would be much better." He lead her down towards the far end where a few had the large pre-Aries jump-jets affixed to them.

Nitro Mudo breathed a long sigh of relief... _'Fine Trieze, you made your point. I'm too old for this."_ ...Now he only had to get his laptop, and the hell out of there, as he heard the large door open to allow the Leo to exit the hanger on it's impromptu flight lesson.


	11. Lady Une Angel Of Death part 6

**Blue Shepherd & The Angel of Death**...

PART SIX... side A.

….side B is on Deviant ART!

SO... now that I can continue with _Night Grinned _chapters as well after this... was it a _Classy_ Military Style _Romance_? Or Cheap _Cockpit _Motel? Will Une and Trieze be able to rekindle their love after the war? Or was their relationship based too deeply in the circumstances and roles they were trapped in at the time? Does Trieze even deserve a second chance with Noin, or did fate pass its verdict on them long ago?

"_Hey girl, when I'm fking you? It's like nothing else matters..._

_You make me want to reach down, between my legs..._

_...And _ease_ the seat back!_

…_Three, Two, One... _**I'm the Bomb**_! and I'm ready to go off in your shed...!_" - **Electric Six** at approx. 00:02:55

* * *

><p>(ac195) <em>..<em>_**.Everything you always wanted, All at once.**__.._

_LEO-101: Mobility Training and Flight Control_

_Instructor: Colonel T.G. Khushrenada 13__

Once you got around the front display screen and dash it was a lot more spacious inside the cockpit then it seemed looking in. The storage alcove behind the seat was empty of the complement of ammunition crates, baggage and spare parts that usually filled it when operating on the front lines; and once he stepped her through powering up the systems and activating the view panels it was like the thick casing of titanium alloy melted away to expose them as if they sat in a glass box.

Vulnerability was not what she had expected to find in the heart of such a massive piece of mobile artillery.

She felt like a little girl learning to drive a car, sitting on his lap with her bare feet resting on top of his shined leather boots, his white gloved hands atop hers on the lateral control sticks; Trieze Khushrenada's steady mellow voice behind her neck as he explained the consul layout certainly added to the impression.

"...It can be rather disconcerting for students to attempt to take their first step backwards. At Lake Victoria for the first few weeks of field practice was easier to keep equipment damages down by undocking the suits for them. Luckily for you this hanger is equipped with docking trays; you already have the frequency linked up to the bay controls, on that same key pad enter ;) your security code and choose the option 'extend launch'."

Trieze couldn't help the wave of nostalgia at finally being back in that all-familiar seat; Not to mention the fond memories of a similar lesson he'd given a certain young ACE cadet...

He had found Noin spending the night fretting away over the impending humiliation she was convinced she would suffer her first attempt maneuvering a real suit, especially after her near perfect marks on all the aptitude tests. He had the confidence in her to crouch behind the seat, only getting hurled into the side of the cockpit once for his gamble when she'd nearly over balanced the suit; but he had been right to trust her and the talented girl had saved from the stumble.

After having gotten over her anxieties with the practice the night before, she performed flawlessly compared to her less then perfect peers once again.

Une having absolutely no piloting training made this a completely different situation. The Z-PLCs was installed to display only to his interface lenses and allow him to be able to modify the systems and override the controls if necessary; an especially handy feature for what he had in mind later on this little crash course adventure.

"Now what?" she asked as the suit on its rolling platform cleared the hanger into the twilight falling outside.

"You have to unlock the controls; access the systems there and you want to select seven through forty-two and 'rout to main'; that should raise the foot board as well..." she followed along with the instructions. Trieze smiled noticing her give a little gasp of surprise when the peddles did rise up shifting their position slightly. Somehow the rounded swell of her ass on his lap, firmly secured against him with the 5-point belt restraint, was every bit as comfortable as he imagined it would be. "Once you get a bit more practice you'll find you can reprogram the controls to a more intuitive layout. There is a lot you have to dictate in good timing in order to perform maneuvers like dropping to one knee or standing. For now what is important for you to pay attention to, as I bring the suit to its feet, is the readouts here; they give you the same information your body gets from your inner ear."

He used the interface lenses to enlarge the readout on the screen for her.

Slowly he squeezed each of her hands to show her how to manipulate the limbs of the gigantic machine, the toggle under her thumbs to select from the different hydraulic joint sets, how each button under her fingers on the control sticks sent a surge of power activating the mini-cells in each of the segments of its appendages as displayed by another diagram on the corner of her screen.

The Leo, with it's equally massive jump-jets attached, rose from its one knee crouch as he pushed down with the right leg while engaging a combination of the right control stick's buttons. Simultaneously he allowed the left peddle to rise, engaging the same combination of buttons on the left control stick, before depressing the left peddle as well and dipping the left control stick up and rotating it with a sweep that the Leo's left leg mimicked standing into a basic half-moon position.

"Strange... I always thought the control sticks only related to the arm movements..."

"The very first Leo models were like that. However they had a terrible time getting up once they were knocked down since adjusting the leg's lateral motion required entering computational data manually. The down side to the change is that its now much harder to learn how to walk without the motion being preset into the controls. When your ready, shall we give it a try?"

"I am ready." Une swallowed her slight twinge of trepidation.

She was surprised at the shift in his mannerism once they'd climbed inside, but perhaps it was just the fact that she was unquestioningly deferring his instructions for once? Despite her suspicions regarding 'his disposition', there was no denying the extremely intimate nature of the current set up. With chin tucked over her left shoulder his hot breath brushed against the side of her face, causing a shiver to build up on her spine like static electricity.

He stepped the suit through an about face, then took a set of three measured steps; allowing the suit to pause ever so slightly at each balance point to map out a guide on the instruments for her to follow.

"Your turn. Take your time and simply push through the motion until you see the numbers match."

"What if we fall?"

"I won't let that happen, Midi. Now, engage the legs and just try planting one foot forward." Trieze relaxed his hands around hers letting her take the lead.

Une took a deep breath before she selected the necessary joint groupings with the button combinations on the control sticks, then slowly started to mimic his example.

"Hold!"

She froze.

"Let the supporting foot give, feel how it cradles the weight naturally?" He prompted her through the foot motions once more before letting her take over again.

Une managed a few steps... before she exaggerated the motion too much, moving too quickly and causing the Leo to trip over it's own feet. Trieze activated the jet pack's burners via his lenses, floating the suit up away from the ground before he settled it back down on its feet.

"See? Everything is under control. That was not bad, your a quick learner. I would not expect any less, but... perhaps we should find somewhere a little more private to continue this lesson before we attract too much attention?"

"Where did you have in mind?" She looked back at him and had to catch her breath as she found that it put her lips mere millimeters from his own.

Trieze held steady unphased; gazing back into her light chocolate eyes through the data flashing across the blue tints,

"I know a place..."

He took over the controls, maximizing fuel and energy consumption with a combination of graceful leaps and jet boosts – Through the interface lenses he used Une's security code to clear the unscheduled patrol with the Headquarter's control tower...

...as well as send out a few more orders signed under her name.

They'd used nearly half of the fuel tanks before Trieze deemed that they had found 'the spot' where they would be able to continue undisturbed. It was what looked like an abandoned airbase on the edge of a large lake with forested cliffs rising up on the opposite shore.

Une had actually started to get the hang of the oddly round-about control system that started to grow on one's reflexes. The more rapidly she was able to bring each part into alignment to support the gravity center of the tall machine, the more fluid and fine-tuned her control became.

Trieze literally sat back and watched, resting his hands to the side of hers for now, enjoying the familiar learning process unfolding. He was exactly where he had yearned to be for what seemed an eternity, it didn't matter if it was her doing the driving. Once the frequency he needed to catch her with the boost pack decreased enough, he coached her through trying a few more complicated maneuvers, such as side stepping and bringing the unit to its resting crouch and up again.

"Tell me Lady Une," he had decided she was as thoroughly distracted with her task as she would ever be, "...what did you mean the other night when you said 'always the best looking ones'?"

Une and the suit froze,

"You were...awake?" ..._and couldn't be bothered with looking after your own modesty?_ She added mentally.

Trieze chuckled, sure that she was blushing,

"It is hard to go to sleep when the room does not stop spinning."

"I... I didn't mean anything by it..."

"It sounded like you were rather disappointed about something?"

"No, it's fine... As long as somebody does their job I don't hold their personal preferences against them." She was shocked to feel him start laughing under her as if it were the best joke he'd heard in ages.

In a way it was. Trieze felt like he was back in high school all over again... NOW he knew what had been the problem with all his previous, _thoroughly ignored_, attempts to win her over!

"That does make me wonder... Is it the way I act? The things I say? Or is it simply the disbelief caused by your own perceived inadequacy?"

"I beg your pardon! Disbelief of _what_?" if they had been in his office she would have actually slapped him.

"Disbelief that someone like me might genuinely value your merits, Lady Une." he moved his hands back over hers to guide the suit out of its awkward pause and into a proper standing pose.

That _name_, why did he keep using that _name_? He'd referred to her as "a" lady before, he'd even snidely called her "his" lady at times... but never Lady _Une_. It suddenly seemed like a title rather then a courtesy of speech... but wait... was he saying what she thought he was? Or was she just making a conditioned assumption? Involuntarily her voice lightened.

"...which merits would those be?" She didn't dare turn her head back towards his.

"I guess your authoritative attitude definitely distinguishes itself at the top of any list. Closely followed by your attention to detail, organization, punctuality... and I know you argued vehemently with me before about it," his hands slid up her arms stopping to grip her biceps, "but I am still very much convinced that you have the most exquisite proportions..."

She took a long deep breath closing her eyes, so it was to be this old dance once again? With measured care, Une reached up and tugged the tie from her hair pulling it down over her right shoulder, letting loose the plain brown hair. It didn't matter if it was just some game he was playing to try and buy more freedom, that's all it ever was for her; he had picked it and now she had to play if she wanted to meet her own mission objectives.

"...maybe I am... a little... disbelieving..." this time when she turned back to him she was prepared with a sly suggestive pout.

He didn't make any move to close the distance, leaving her hanging as a grin lit up his whole face in a way she'd never seen before.

"Oh Midi, you shouldn't be... Take this Leo unit for example... My uncle wants to see their production phased out in the next four years, the jet pack upgrade he sees as a complete waste of resources, why? Simply because the Aries suit is more advanced technology, the flight ability is standard to its design..." He took hold of the controls and boosted the suit in a high, long jump into the air... "...However, I am more then aware that the newer technology of the Aries propulsion jets has still not been able to come close to the versatility of this unit..." the suit arched and began it's decent facing up into the starry night sky, Une couldn't help her panic at the feeling of the sudden drop in their altitude. "...because the Aries can't do this."

At the last moment Trieze braced for the tremendous impact of the massive machine hitting the lake's surface, wrapping his arms around and holding her tight as they sank into the depths of the lake, the watery sky rippling with stars on the view screens.

SEE DEVIANT ART!


End file.
